


Life and Love

by animomma



Series: The Life and Times of Victuuri [12]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Blow Jobs, M/M, Relationship Problems, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:33:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animomma/pseuds/animomma
Summary: Victor accepts a new job, and problems arise between one of his coworkers and Yuuri.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: The Life and Times of Victuuri [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1166879
Comments: 15
Kudos: 114





	1. Chapter 1

“Lapochka, Yakov’s here!”

Yuuri turned around from his place at the stove. Victor was standing there next to his former coach, who wore his usual dour expression. Nevertheless, Yuuri smiled graciously and said, “Yakov, you made it! We’re so glad you could come!”

The older man grunted noncommittally, but added, “Thanks for having me.” 

“Of course. Dinner will be ready soon. Vitya, why don’t you take the dishes into the dining room and get Yakov a drink?”

“Certainly, muzh moy.” Victor went to the cabinet and pulled down three plates and three glasses, brushing a kiss on his husband’s cheek as he exited the kitchen. 

As he followed the silver-haired man, Yakov grumbled, “Do you have to do that in front of me?”

Victor laughed. “It’s not my fault Yuuri is so adorable. I have to kiss him several times a day or I might explode.”

Yuuri felt his face flush as the conversation trailed outside of his hearing. He knew that his husband loved him, but it was hard for him to feel worthy of that love. Some days were better than others, but Yuuri had been losing so much sleep with their new baby lately that his emotions were already tenuous at best, so today it was rather embarrassing for him to have Victor making such declarations to other people.

As he was plating their dinner, a faint wail came from down the hallway. Yuuri put the food down on the counter and reached behind himself to untie his apron, starting towards the kitchen door. Before he reached it, however, Victor passed him, giving a nod as he went. Yuuri paused for a moment to listen for Aki’s crying to stop. When it did, he draped his apron over the back of a chair and picked up the food, carrying it into the dining room. As he was arranging everything under Yakov’s silent observation, Victor came into the room, holding a clearly sleepy Aki, who was rubbing her eyes with one hand as she clung to her papa with the other. Yuuri’s face turned up in an automatic smile at the sight as Victor carried Aki to her high chair and tried to put her in. The second she was held away from his body, Aki let out a wail, fisting her little hands tightly onto her papa’s sleeves.

“Here, Vitya, I’ll just hold her until she wakes up a little more.” Yuuri reached his hands out expectantly. 

“It’s fine, zolotse, I can hold her.”

But Aki had already seen her otousan, and leaned her body away from her papa, arms outstretched as she wailed louder. 

Reluctantly, he handed over the baby, who buried her face in Yuuri’s neck, letting out small, pitiful sniffles as he soothed circles over her back. Yakov chuckled at the sight. “Seems like she has a favorite parent, huh, Victor?”

Victor’s mouth contorted into an interesting shape as he glared at his former coach. Yuuri did his best to stifle a giggle as he said, “Please help yourself to some food before it gets cold, Yakov.”

As they were portioning out food, Yuuri heard Victor mutter to himself, “It’s not as if she doesn’t like me, too. Stupid old man.” Yuuri fought hard to keep his face straight and tried to focus on his food.

Eventually, Aki calmed down enough to allow Yuuri to place her into her high chair, and she was given a bottle that she sucked on contentedly as the adults finished eating. When the dishes had been cleared and wine poured, Yakov leaned back in his chair and regarded Victor. “So, Victor, have you given any thought to what you’re going to do now?”

“What do you mean? We’re both taking care of Aki now.”

Yakov swirled his wine around in his glass. “Yes, that’s exactly my point. Children are expensive. I know that you have a good amount of savings, but eventually she’ll want to do things like go to college. And what if she decides she wants to be a skater, too? It’s an expensive sport, as I don’t need to tell either of you.”

Victor frowned. “I suppose you’re right, but is there really any hurry for me to find something to do right now? I really want to spend as much time as I can with Aki before she has to go to school.”

“Well, have you considered working for the federation?”

Yuuri blinked as Victor replied, “The figure skating federation?”

Yakov snorted. “Do you know another federation that you’d have the skills to work for?”

“I suppose not. It just wasn’t something I was expecting you to suggest.”

“Well, since you have a talent for choreography, I thought they could find somewhere to put you to use.”

Victor grinned wickedly. “Aww, Yakov, are you calling me talented? Such flattery, I’m honored!”

“Oh, shut up. It’s just a job that fits your abilities. And it wouldn’t have to be all that time-consuming, if you wanted to spend some time with your family too. I’m sure you could arrange a part-time schedule until you’re ready to work more hours. If you’re interested, I can make a couple calls for you and get you an interview.”

Victor glanced at his husband. “I appreciate the offer, Yakov. Yuuri and I will have to discuss it. I had planned to stay home longer to help out with the baby.”

“You can do what you like. It just seemed like an opportune time, since you can ride on the tail of your Olympic medal a little to throw your weight around.”

“Aww, you really are complimenting me today!” Victor smiled broadly as Yakov glared in return. 

They chatted about more mundane things for a while until Yakov stood and declared that it was time for old men to be in bed, so they should all get to sleep. Yuuri put Aki in her crib as Victor saw their guest to the door. The baby went down surprisingly easily, and Yuuri crept out of her room as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the spell. When he entered his bedroom, he saw Victor sitting on the bed, reading a book. As Yuuri entered, he put it down and watched his spouse approach the bed and settle next to him. The tension of being stared at made Yuuri squirm, so he spoke first to break it. “So, Vitya, what do you think of Yakov’s suggestion?”

Victor replied carefully, “I was going to ask what you thought, zvezda moya.” 

“It isn’t really something for me to decide, is it?”

Yuuri found himself suddenly pushed onto his back, staring up into his husband’s intense blue eyes. “Yuuri, we’re married, and this concerns our family. Of course it’s something for you to decide, along with me. I don’t want to do something that will make you upset or suffer. Ever.”

A wave of love surged through Yuuri, and he craned his head up to plant a short kiss on his husband’s lips. “I appreciate you including me, but in the end it’s your choice. I can’t tell you what to do for a career.”

Victor’s eyes darkened. “You didn’t seem to have any qualms about telling me what to do when you begged me to return to skating and stay on as your coach.”

“Th-that was different.”

“You’re right, that was different. We weren’t married then, and we didn’t have a child together. Now you should have even more input in what I do, don’t you think?”

Yuuri had to look away from the intensity of his husband’s gaze, gathering his thoughts together. He had felt a slightly unpleasant swirl in his stomach ever since Yakov had suggested that Victor enter the workforce. He couldn’t really pin down the reason, other than he didn’t want his husband to leave him. He knew that was ridiculous, and that the points Yakov had brought up were valid. Eventually, Aki was certain to develop into her own person with her own wants and dreams, and they would need some way to fund that. He wanted to give their daughter everything that she ever wanted in the world, and Victor getting a job seemed like the most reasonable way to do that. Still, his heart wavered, so as he answered, he kept his head turned to one side, staring steadfastly at the wall. “I do think that it’s a good idea. Particularly if you can start part time, like Yakov said. And it seems like he’s pretty confident that he can get you a job.”

“Yuuri.” A hand cupped his chin and turned it gently until he was once again in the line of Victor’s intensely blue eyes. “Are you sure that’s all right with you? I don’t want to make things difficult for you or Aki.”

Rallying his emotions, Yuuri offered what he hoped was a genuine smile. “Of course. Yakov is right, we’re going to need to think about Aki’s future. And this is a good time to be looking around, since you’ve gotten a lot of attention for your Olympic medal.”

“So have you, lapochka. Would you rather start working and I stay home with Aki?”

Yuuri blinked. He hadn’t even considered that possibility. He answered slowly, “I don’t think so. I’d rather be home with her right now, and think about what I’d like to do when she gets older. I’d feel better being with her.”

“So should I call Yakov tomorrow and tell him to make his introductions for me?”

Yuuri nodded slightly, still hindered by Victor’s hand on his chin.

The motion seemed to remind him of his hold on Yuuri, as Victor’s hand immediately relaxed and smoothed down his husband’s face. “All right. I won’t accept anything that requires me to be gone full-time, and if we end up having problems, I can always quit and look for something else that fits our family better. Does that sound good?”

Despite his misgivings, Yuuri’s chest warmed with the obvious love and care that his husband was showing. “Yes, Vitya. Thank you for talking to me about this.” He slung his arms up around Victor’s neck, pulling him down for a kiss. As he deepened it, he tried his best to lay aside his anxiety, determined to lose himself in the beautiful man in his arms instead.


	2. Chapter 2

“Victor Katsuki-Nikiforov?”

Victor stood up as the receptionist called his name. She looked at him and gestured towards a set of glass doors. “They’re ready for you.”

“Thank you.” Victor straightened his sleeve cuffs and strode purposefully towards the doors. Surprisingly, he was a little nervous about this interview. He would have thought after performing regularly in front of thousands of people and on live TV that he didn’t have any nerves left. He supposed it was because now he had a family counting on him to do well. Still, this wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. He could face almost anything if it was for Yuuri and Aki.

He entered the room confidently. There were two men sitting at a table, waiting for him. One man was rather elderly, with stern eyes and a few strands of wispy white hair. The other man was considerably younger, perhaps not even a decade older than Victor himself, with trim black hair. As Victor entered this man stood, his blue-grey eyes gleaming with interest.

"You're Victor Nikiforov?"

"Katsuki-Nikiforov," he corrected automatically. Realizing that this may have come off as rude, he gave the two men a small bow at his waist. 

The black-haired man laughed. “No need for that,” he said, reaching his hand out.

Victor smiled a little sheepishly as he reached out and shook the hand briefly. “My husband bows, so I’ve picked up the habit.”

The man flashed a cool smile. “Ah, yes, that would be Yuuri Katsuki, who won the silver medal in this past Olympics? Of course, you won the gold, as is expected of the great legend Victor Nikiforov.”

“Katsuki-Nikiforov,” Victor corrected again, this time feeling a little irked. Was it his imagination, or was this man insulting his Yuuri? He pushed that aside and gave the man his podium smile. “I’m sorry, I haven’t caught your name yet?”

“Ah, of course! How rude of me. I’ve admired you for such a long time, I got overly excited and forgot to introduce myself. I am Oleg Antonovich Nosov, the head of choreography, and this is the federation’s president, Alexsandr Grigorovich Gorsikov.” 

Victor stepped forward to reach across the table and shake the hand of the unimpressed-looking elderly man, who was still in his seat. “Sir, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Alexsandr grunted and gestured to a seat in front of him. Victor sat obediently as Oleg returned to his seat next to Alexsandr. Leaning forward with that gleam back in his eyes, Oleg said, “So, Victor, we hear you are interested in working here. Can you tell us what you think would make you a good fit?”

Vaguely, Victor noted that this man had gone straight to addressing him by his first name. Although this wasn’t uncommon due to his celebrity status, for some reason it irked him a bit coming from this man. He shoved the feeling aside, however, and replied, “Well, as you may know, I coached my husband and choreographed all his programs during that time. I also choreographed the world record-setting performance of Yuri Plisetsky in his debut year. I discovered during those times that choreography was something I really enjoyed, and thought this would be a good outlet to explore that.”

“Yes, I saw many of those routines, as well as all of the ones you’ve done. You seem to have quite a talent. I’m particularly intrigued by your exhibition skates with Yuuri Katsuki.” Oleg said.

Victor smiled, recognizing a topic he could warm up to easily. “Yes, I always have so much fun creating routines with Yuuri. He’s such a beautiful skater.”

“Indeed.” Oleg smiled in return, and Victor thought that maybe he had been too hasty in his misgivings about this man. Anyone who recognized that Yuuri was beautiful couldn’t be all that bad.

Oleg continued, “I agree that you seem to have a talent for choreography, and I would be thrilled to have you working under me.”

Victor blinked. “You mean you’re offering me the job?”

Alexsandr said in a gruff voice, “Well, this interview is really more of a formality than anything. Your record and Yakov’s recommendation speak for themselves. If you want the job, we’ll send you an employment contract for you to look over. Are there any questions you have for us before then?”

“Well, yes. Is there any way I can work part-time, or at least set my own schedule a little bit? I have a baby daughter at home, and really can’t be away for long periods of time.”

Oleg cut in smoothly, “That shouldn’t be an issue. We are happy to accommodate your schedule if it means we get to utilize your talent. If we’re lucky, you’ll help us cultivate the next Olympic gold medalist for Russia.” 

Victor thought for a moment. “If that’s agreeable to you, then I don’t believe I have any other questions, other than when would you like me to start?”

“I’ll let Oleg deal with those issues, as he’ll be your direct supervisor, and in charge of training you.” Alexsandr stood and addressed his colleague. “Let me know if you need anything else from me to get this set up.” Turning to Victor, he said, “We look forward to having you on board here.” 

“Of course, sir. I look forward to it.” Victor inclined his head in an imitation of a bow as the president left the room.

Once he was gone, Oleg turned to him with a smile. “Let’s go over your employment terms, shall we?”

“Yes, let’s.” Victor kept his face straight, but inwardly he was already looking forward to celebrating this new job with his husband.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the smut in this chapter won't be a surprise to anyone with the rating.

The door clicked open quietly, and Yuuri jolted in his chair. Rubbing his eyes, he looked towards the entrance to the apartment and called softly, “Vitya?”

Shuffling feet made their way over to him in the blackness of the unlit room, and he could see the murky outline of his husband. “Zhizn moya, what are you doing here alone in the dark?”

Sitting further upright, he replied, “I was waiting for you to get home. Besides, I wasn’t alone, Makkachin is here.” He gestured vaguely towards Makkachin’s bed, and heard a few lazy tail thumps from the poodle at the mention of his name, although he gave no signs of actually getting up.

“Oh, dorogoi, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you up. I texted you that I would be back late.”

Yuuri shook his head, but then realized that his husband probably couldn’t see the motion. “No, Vitya, it’s fine. It’s not even that late, really. I just haven’t turned the lights on yet.” He smiled, hoping that his tone of voice had convinced Victor that he hadn’t been anxiously awaiting his return.

The dark shape leaned over and scooped him up. Yuuri let out a small yelp, then clapped his hands over his mouth, scared to wake up Aki. He found himself resting against his husband’s chest, and gave in to the warmth, leaning his head on Victor’s shoulder. A low voice murmured in his ear, “I’m so sorry I made you wait. Let’s go to bed, and I’ll tell you all about my interview.”

As he started walking towards their bedroom, Yuuri whispered, “Wait, Vitya, don't you want to have dinner first?"

A kiss was brushed onto his head. "I'm fine. I'd rather talk to you right now. Besides, I had coffee with Oleg, so it's not like I'm starving." They had reached their bedroom now, and Victor kicked the door shut behind them, using his elbow to turn on the light.

Yuuri blinked rapidly and squinted at the sudden assault on his eyes. He was grateful for it, though, since he could use this expression to cover his unease at his husband's words. He felt guilty almost immediately. There was no need for him to be upset that his husband had gone out with a new coworker. As he was deposited carefully on the bed, he asked in a carefully light tone, "Where did you two go?"

Victor sat on the bed next to him and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, we didn't go anywhere, we stayed at the office and had coffee from the break room." His eyes brightened as he gushed, "Oleg is going to be my supervisor. He said that he liked my choreography skills, and then he started talking about our pairs skates."

Yuuri groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Vitya, you didn't. Before you even had the job?"

"No, they offered me the job right away and said the interview was more of a formality."

"They?"

"Oh, yes, the federation president was there, too. He was pretty brusque though, and didn't stay long. So Oleg and I straightened out some details, and then we started talking about your skating…" Victor brushed his hand through his bangs and smiled sheepishly. "And I'm afraid I lost track of the time a bit."

Yuuri smiled in return. "I understand. It wasn't a big deal that you came back a bit late. I can go make you some dinner." He stood up to go to the kitchen, and then remembered his manners. "Ah, by the way, congratulations on your new job…"

He was abruptly yanked backwards and landed on the bed with a yelp, fighting against the sensation of falling. His husband's face loomed over him, and Yuuri noticed a smirk as the Russian man murmured, "Lyubov moya, I would much rather eat you right now." Before he could protest, Victor’s mouth was smashing down onto his, and a tongue was demanding entrance. Automatically, he parted his lips to allow his husband access, and his mouth was immediately ravished. He did his best to keep from moaning until he was finally released. Gasping for air, Yuuri tried to form words to protest Victor skipping dinner, but was distracted as the other man moved downward and began removing Yuuri’s pants. His husband was quite skilled at this task, and within seconds he was taking Yuuri into his mouth.

Although he wasn’t hard, the sensation of his lover’s mouth was tantalizing. Yuuri bit his lip against the pleasure as he felt himself growing stiff under Victor’s ministrations. As he grew harder, the feeling of being sucked on grew more and more intense, until at last he couldn’t keep a moan from escaping. Victor looked up at him through a curtain of his silver hair, a wicked gleam in his eyes. Not taking his mouth off of Yuuri’s rapidly growing erection, Victor shuffled his body sideways off the bed until he was kneeling, and reached a hand into the nightstand. Opening a drawer, he took out a bottle of lube and squeezed some onto his fingers. Yuuri watched in a haze, mesmerized by the feeling of being sucked on from a sideways angle, and didn’t realize what the lube was for until Victor’s questing fingers entered inside of him. This time he bucked off the bed with a small yelp, accidentally driving far enough into his husband’s mouth to make him choke for a moment. When he noticed this, he managed to gasp out, “Sorry, Vitya.” He was, however, thoroughly ignored, and the silver head resumed its motions up and down his cock. Simultaneously, Victor used his free hand to fully remove Yuuri’s pants, finally wrestling them off and tossing them to one side. Once that was done, the free hand came back to caress Yuuri’s thigh gently, pulling it down to allow better access to his now-pulsing hole. Once he was opened up more fully, Victor drew his fingers out and then thrust them back in, at the same time taking Yuuri’s cock deep into his throat. 

This was too much for Yuuri. With a groan, he spilled himself inside of his husband’s mouth, head arching back as he came. When he had finished, he looked down at Victor, who removed his mouth and stood up, quickly shedding his pants and underwear. He climbed back up onto the bed, clambering softly into position so he was trapping Yuuri’s body. Reaching up and holding his face gently with both hands, Yuuri gave his husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Please fuck me now, Vitya.”

He felt the shiver that went through the other man at his words. Victor wasted no time with a response, leaning over him to grab the lube again. He poured some onto his dick then tossed the bottle to the side, hooking one of Yuuri’s legs over his elbow in the same motion. Leaning back down so their foreheads touched, Victor pressed himself slowly inside the twitching hole. Yuuri grabbed tightly onto his shoulders until he was fully seated, then let a deep breath out. He looked up at his husband and nodded, and Victor began to thrust slowly. He pulled himself fully out on each stroke, and then inched himself back in, slowly, laboriously. Yuuri writhed under the sensation of being able to feel every bit of Victor over and over, until he couldn’t stand the teasing anymore. “Vitya, fuck me hard,” he gasped out.

His husband’s eyes flashed, and his grip on Yuuri’s leg tightened. He grunted in affirmation, then suddenly began thrusting hard and fast. Yuuri let out a loud cry at the immediate change of sensations, and his hand crept to his cock as he felt the need to release again. His lover noticed this and asked in a broken, staccato voice, “Are you ready to come again?”

He nodded vigorously, and Victor clenched his teeth and began pushing harder. “Come for me,” he growled, and seconds later Yuuri felt his semen flowing inside of him. This was enough to send him over the edge again, and he let out a low groan as his cum splattered all over both of their chests.

When they were both finished, Victor collapsed on top of him, and they both tried to catch their breath. Yuuri got his back first and scolded, “Vitya, you made a mess out of us now.”

A breathy laugh sounded in his ear. “No, dorogoi, I believe that was you.”

“So are you saying that the mess inside of my ass wasn’t from you?”

“No, that was me. You’re right, I do love making a mess out of you.” Victor picked himself up off of Yuuri, giving him a quick kiss as he stood up, withdrawing his length from the Japanese man as he went. He offered a hand to Yuuri and said, “Come on, let’s go shower. I’ll be sure to wash you off well since I made such a mess.”

Yuuri smiled in return and took the hand, allowing himself to be pulled up and kissed again, more thoroughly this time. As he followed his husband into the bathroom, he allowed the warm feeling inside of his abdomen to soothe him. Even if Victor started a new job and spent time with other people, Yuuri knew he was the only one who would receive this kind of attention from the skating legend. But although his head assured him that Victor loved him the most, his nerves were still unsure.


	4. Chapter 4

Victor looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his tie for the umpteenth time, although it didn’t need it. Nodding firmly to his reflection, more to convince himself than anything, he walked resolutely away from the mirror and out of the bedroom. Despite his usual confidence about life, he was feeling a bit nervous about starting his new job today. 

He tried to ignore the feeling as he walked into the kitchen. Yuuri was standing over a pan at the stove and didn’t seem to notice his arrival. Aki, on the other hand, was strapped to her otousan’s back, and noticed her papa right away. A smile broke out across her face, and she made happy gurgling noises, trying to turn herself around so she could see him better. 

Her fussing caught Yuuri’s attention, and he turned his head back to look at her, noticing his husband in the process. He smiled and said, “Good morning, Vitya. I’m almost done with breakfast if you want to have a seat. There’s coffee ready for you, too. And I pulled out your thermos, in case you want to take some to work with you.”

Victor smiled, savoring the warmth of his husband’s affection. He approached his family, first giving Yuuri a slow, soft kiss before placing a shorter one on his daughter’s head. He drew back and said, “Thank you, lyubimiy.” He grabbed a coffee mug and poured himself some coffee before heading to his seat at the kitchen table. Propping his chin on his hand, he contented himself in watching his husband bustle around as he finished preparing the food, and Aki alternately fisting her hands in her otousan’s shirt and cooing at her papa. He could feel the nerves draining out of him as he watched his loves in this adorably domestic scene. He was almost sorry when breakfast was ready and was being served, piping hot, onto his plate. He barely noticed what he was eating, although he tried his best to appreciate the meal his husband had prepared for him.

Yuuri regarded him with worried eyes as they ate. “Is the food all right?”

“Of course it is, lapochka! I guess I’m just a little nervous about today.”

His husband’s fork stopped moving. “Why is that?”

“It just feels like I need to make sure I’m doing enough to provide for you and Aki.” He waved his hand dismissively. “I know I’m being silly, though. We still have plenty of money to fall back on for now, and it’s not like I haven’t done this type of work before. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Yuuri smiled softly. “Yes, but sometimes even if your head knows the facts, your heart doesn’t believe it.” He looked up at Victor, and there was a small quiver in his brown eyes for a fleeting moment. Then his gaze became steady and loving like it usually was, and he said, “I know you’ll do a wonderful job. After all, you’re the great skating legend, Victor Nikiforov.”

His eyes narrowed as Victor growled, “Katsuki-Nikiforov.” It was bad enough when he had to correct other people, but his own spouse?

The Japanese man smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, it’s just that I knew you as my idol Victor Nikiforov for so long that the name still has power in my memory. It’s hard to remember that you’re married to me sometimes and have a new name.”

A small flare of anger ran through Victor, and he leaned over the table, purposefully looming over his husband. “Should I remind you, then?”

He didn’t miss the shiver that went through Yuuri as he answered, “We don’t have time for that. You’ll be late for work if we do.”

He kept his eyes locked on Yuuri’s for a moment longer, then sat back down slowly. “Then I’ll have to make sure I take plenty of time to remind you tonight when I get home.” Hurriedly, he ate the rest of his breakfast, realizing that his husband was right about needing to get going. When he was finished, he walked his plate over to the sink and traded his coffee mug for the thermos that had been set out for him. While he was filling it, Yuuri said from behind him, “I put a bento in the fridge for you. If you want to bring it, that is,” he added hurriedly, and Victor turned around quickly to catch what he was sure was an adorable expression on his husband’s face. He smiled at the sight of the red-tinted cheeks he loved so much. Twisting the lid onto the thermos, he went back to the table and gave his husband a lingering kiss. When he finally drew away, he said huskily, “Of course I want it. My beautiful husband made it for me.” Going to the fridge, he took out the bento box and smiled at his family. “Now that I’m all set, I’m off to work.”

“Itterasshai,” his husband said, giving him a smile. 

“Ah. Ittekimasu,” he responded, grinning in return. “I’ll remember to say it to you first tomorrow.” He turned and went to the door to put on his shoes, then gave one last look at his family over his shoulder. He drank in the sight of them, engraving it into his head so that it would last for the day while he was gone. Raising his hand, he called, “I love you!” 

His husband chuckled. “We love you too, Vitya. Now get going or you really will be late.”

Recognizing the truth in these words, Victor obediently left the apartment.

His drive to work was uneventful, but he spent most of the time thinking about his husband and daughter and how much he was going to miss them today. When he arrived and parked his car, the first thing he did was pull out his phone and send Yuuri a text asking for a picture of the two of them. He stared at the screen, trying to convince himself to enter the building. His soul screamed at him to start the car back up, drive home, and throw his arms around his family. Eventually, he shut the screen off and sighed. He slapped both of his cheeks gently and got out of the car. He had made the decision to do this for his family, and he had to see it through.

He entered the building and made his way to the choreography department. As soon as he walked in, Oleg came over to him, a broad smile across his handsome face. “Victor! Glad to see you found us! Come with me, I’ll show you where you’ll be working.” He turned around and Victor followed him. Oleg began chatting excitedly, “Now, we had to throw it together a little hurriedly, so there isn’t much more than a desk and a computer, but if you let me know what else you need, I’ll be sure to get it for you!” 

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Victor assured him. They were walking past several occupied cubicles, and he started scanning the area surreptitiously, looking for an open area that might belong to him. To his surprise, Oleg let him past all of the cubicles and to a door. Opening it, he walked inside and flicked on the lights.

Victor blinked. They were in a small office, occupied with a desk, leather office chair, and a couple shelves. While it was not very large, it was still undeniably a private working area, and even boasted a small window. Tentatively, Victor asked, “Is it all right for me to have my own office like this? It’s my first day, after all.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. You saw how it is out in the bullpen, we don’t really have any open spaces, and this office has been sitting empty for a while, so I thought you would be the perfect fit! Now give me just a moment, I’ll grab another chair so I can walk you through what to do today.” He bustled out of the room.

Victor glanced around him. It made him uncomfortable to be getting his own office on his first day, but it seemed like there was no helping it, if all the other work spaces were already taken up. He walked over to the desk and sat down. He noticed a laptop on the desk and opened it, booting it up so it would be ready. As it was turning on, Oleg reentered the room with a folding chair under his arm. He went around the desk and opened it up, placing it directly next to Victor’s chair. He sat down, saying, “Ah, I see you found the laptop already! You’re quite the go-getter!”

Victor pasted on his podium smile. “It just seemed reasonable to get it ready for work.” 

Oleg leaned over him to open the start menu on the laptop. “Now, here’s the first program you’ll be using.” 

Victor noted that the other man was practically leaning onto his arm, so he scooted the computer over so it was in front of him. “You go ahead and do it first, and I’ll watch.”

The laptop was slid back over. “No, I’d rather have you do it. You won’t learn by watching me. Now, when you get into the program, click here…” Victor tried to pay attention, but he was distracted by the uncomfortable smell of Oleg’s hair gel that was undoubtedly holding his slicked-back hair in place. His head was directly next to Victor’s. He tried his best to move over a little without being obvious, just to put a bit of space between them, but he didn’t have much success. 

The rest of the morning was spent in this way, with Oleg leaning over him as he showed Victor the various programs and procedures he’d be making use of. Some of them Victor was already familiar with from his own experience in choreography, which thankfully made the training process go much faster. When it was finally lunch time, Oleg leaned back and stretched, and Victor felt a sense of relief that he finally had his personal space back. “Well, it’s time for lunch! Would you like to go get something to eat?”

Victor shook his head. “No, my husband made a bento for me. I left it in my car, though, so I’ll go get it.” He stood up and asked, “How long is lunch? An hour? I’ll be sure to be back in time.”

He started to walk towards the door, but Oleg laughed and said, “Hold on there. Don’t you want me to show you where the break room is at least?”

“No, I’m sure I’ll be fine. Besides, it sounds like you have to go out to get something to eat, so I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting. Thank you anyway.” Giving a small nod of his head, Victor exited the office quickly and hurried to his car. 

Once he was sitting in his convertible, he breathed a sigh of relief. It felt wonderful to be outside after being trapped in the office all morning with Oleg looming over his shoulder. He decided that, since it was a nice day, he might as well eat lunch in the car. But first things first. He pulled out his phone and unlocked it hurriedly, happy to see a text notification from Yuuri. Opening it, he was greeted with a picture of Yuuri giving a giggling Aki a kiss. He smiled tenderly, and decided that lunch could wait a few minutes. He went to his call log and selected his husband’s name, and waited as the phone rang. And rang again. And again. And, finally, went to voicemail. Victor’s eyebrows knitted together as he felt a slight disappointment at missing his husband. He rallied himself to leave a voice message though: “Muzh moy, it’s me. I’m on lunch for the next hour if you’re able to call me back. I just wanted to talk to you and say I miss you and Aki. I hope you’re both having a good day. I love you!”

He clicked his phone off and stared at it for a second, hoping that it would ring as Yuuri realized he had missed a call. It stayed stubbornly silent, however, and Victor sighed in disappointment. He instead reached for the bento box and pried the lid off. When he had it open, he nearly cried at the sight. Yuuri had filled the box with heart-shaped foods, from the omelette to the vegetables. On the rice portion, he had made a small, simplistic face out of what looked like nori sheets. It had two eyes, shut into v’s that pointed at each other, and a heart-shaped mouth. Victor smiled, and recognized an attempt at one of his own expressions. He could feel the love seeping out of every item of food, and as he picked up the chopsticks out of the box, he felt compelled to clap his hands together as Yuuri still sometimes did and muttered under his breath, “Itadakimasu.” 

He ate deliberately slowly, savoring each bite, partially because he was hoping to give Yuuri enough time to call him back, and partially because he didn’t really want to go back to the office and the awkward atmosphere with Oleg. Eventually he finished his food and packed the bento box back up. He checked his phone and saw he still had a little time left before he had to return, and decided that his coffee could probably use freshening up. He had finished what he’d brought in his thermos that morning, and thought he’d probably want a little more for the afternoon’s work. Besides, it would be good to know where the break room was located. 

He headed back inside and made his way to his department, taking his time to go more slowly and take stock of the layout of the office space. He found the break room easily enough, and found both tea and coffee waiting. He decided that tomorrow he’d have to bring a mug that he could keep at work so he could have options. Right now all he had was his thermos that already had coffee dregs in it, so he refilled it from the coffee pot before making his way back to his office.

When he entered, Oleg was already sitting in the folding chair. His blue-grey eyes lit up as Victor came in. “Ah, Victor, there you are. Are you ready to start again?”

Steeling himself, Victor nodded. “Yes, let’s get started.”

The afternoon passed in much the same way as the morning had, with Oleg leaning too far into Victor’s personal space. The day seemed to drag on, and eventually he noticed that other workers from the communal space were starting to leave for the day. But still Oleg talked on, walking Victor through various programs and procedures until Victor could see through the window that it was beginning to get dark. Finally, Oleg leaned back and said, “Well, that should be enough for today. It’s getting rather late, isn’t it?”

Victor stood up hurriedly, shutting the laptop decisively. “Yes, it certainly is.” 

Oleg stood as well. “Since you couldn’t go to lunch with me, let me take you out to dinner, as a congratulations on entering our department. My treat.” He must have seen the waver on Victor’s face, because he added, “I insist! It’s not every day that we get an Olympic medalist working here!” He gave a smooth smile, and Victor felt that he couldn’t refuse his new boss.

He returned the smile with a thin one of his own. “Well, I suppose as long as we’re not out too late, it will be fine. Let me just call my husband to let him know I won’t be home for dinner.” He began to walk out of the room so he could make his call, and was a bit disconcerted when Oleg followed him. He decided to ignore the older man, and pressed the call button, hoping that this time Yuuri would pick up. He also was secretly hoping that his husband would make enough of a fuss or need his help with Aki and give him an excuse to get out of this dinner.To his disappointment, the phone rang through to voicemail just like earlier in the day. They were almost exiting the building at this point, and Victor stepped off to one side in the foyer so he wouldn’t be in the way as he left a voice message. To his chagrin, Oleg also stepped aside with him. Trying to ignore the other man, Victor focused instead on his message. “Solnyshko, it’s me. Sorry to have missed you again. I’m just giving you a call to let you know not to worry about dinner for me. Oleg Antonovich has invited me out for dinner.” 

“Please, Victor, just call me Oleg.”

Victor’s eyes flicked towards the black-haired man and gave a brittle smile at this interruption before continuing. “Anyway, I’ll give you a call when I’m on the way home.” He paused, considering his words, before adding softly, “Aishiteru,” and hanging up. Turning to Oleg, he said, “Well, where shall we go, then?” He tried to keep his voice light, but annoyance thrummed through his veins. He listened as Oleg named a restaurant and agreed to meet him there, but his thoughts kept turning to his family at home and what they might be doing.


	5. Chapter 5

Yuuri was having more trouble without Victor than he had anticipated. Aki had never been an easy baby, but Victor was always there when he needed a new burp cloth, a clean diaper, or someone to heat up the formula. 

Today had been hellish. Aki had been particularly fussy, crying over everything and refusing to be placated no matter what Yuuri did. He wanted nothing more than to sit down for a minute and gather himself, but every time he tried, Aki inevitably started screaming again. He noticed during her attempted afternoon nap time that he had missed a call from Victor around lunch time, but just as he was about to return the call, the baby started a hiccuping cry, and he darted out of the room, leaving his phone forgotten on the bed.

He eventually managed to get some sort of dinner into both of them and put Aki down for an early bedtime. Luckily, after skipping most of her nap time during the day, she seemed tired as well, and went down without much more fuss than usual. Exhausted, Yuuri stumbled to bed himself, falling onto it. He didn’t even spare a thought for the covers before falling asleep.

He woke up the next morning with his glasses off and the covers pulled over him, and hurriedly bolted upright. The bed next to him was empty. He listened carefully for Aki’s cries, but heard nothing. Quickly, he stumbled out of bed and yanked open the door to her room. Seeing that she wasn’t there, he hurried to the kitchen and was relieved to see Victor sitting at the table, holding Aki casually in one arm as he scrolled through his phone with the other hand. He sighed in relief as his husband looked up. 

“Dorogoi, there you are! Ohayou! Did you sleep well?”

Crossing to his seat and sitting down heavily, Yuuri rubbed his eyes. “I must have. I didn’t even wake up when you got home.”

Victor chuckled. “That’s all right, zvezda moya. Aki probably tired you out yesterday, didn’t you, orel’ka moya?” He tapped Aki’s little button nose, and she giggled heartily.

Yuuri smiled at them, but then his eyes widened. “Oh, Vitya, I fell asleep before making you dinner! Did you find something to eat?”

The blue eyes flickered for an instant. “Yes, I called and left you a message. My boss invited me out for dinner, so I went to eat with him. I tried to come home early, but by the time I got back, you were both asleep.” He leaned forward and gave Yuuri a slow kiss, drawing back only a little when he was finished. “I missed you yesterday,” he mumbled, and Yuuri caught the bitter scent of coffee on his breath. Victor leaned in for a firmer kiss, then stood up and handed the baby over to his husband. “Well, I have to get going to work. Lapochka, I’ll try to call you over lunch, but don’t worry if you’re too busy with Aki, all right?” Yuuri nodded, and his husband smiled and rested a hand on his dark head. “I’ll see you later tonight. Ittekimasu.”

Yuuri smiled. “Itterasshai, anata,” he responded, and watched as Victor grabbed his thermos and a coffee mug and left. He sighed, shifting Aki to one side so he could rest his forehead in his hand for a moment. He felt a vague discomfort in his chest at the knowledge that Victor had gone out to eat last night instead of coming home, and moreover, that Yuuri had missed him entirely except for the few minutes before he left for work just now. Trying his best to shove the feeling down, he stood up and went to the counter, thinking about fixing himself breakfast. He noticed that the rice maker was on, and opened the lid to see a serving of white rice waiting for him. He smiled, and some of the discomfort vanished. 

The morning started out just as hectic as the previous day. Aki fussed and cried, and refused her morning nap. Finally, Yuuri got her to settle down a little as he held her in one arm while making lunch with the other, since she had vehemently refused the use of the baby wrap. She hiccuped as she wound down from the cry she had just been having, and Yuuri sighed as he looked down at her. “You just miss Papa too, don’t you, Aki?” She made a small gurgling noise as if in agreement, and Yuuri felt the corners of his eyes prick with tears. Sniffling harshly, he tried his best to keep them from falling, but despite his efforts, one drop fell onto Aki’s plump cheek. Dropping his spoon, he hurriedly wiped it away as she blinked up at him in adorable confusion. Her expression forced a small laugh out of him, and he mumbled, “I have to get it together. You need me even more now since Papa isn’t around during the day.” 

He steeled his emotions and finished lunch for both of them, putting his on the table. He eyed the baby in his arms and decided it was probably worth the fight to try to get her to sit in the high chair. He had been holding her almost all morning, and his muscles desperately needed a break.

She started to squirm as soon as he put her in the seat, anticipating the restraining shoulder straps that she hated so much. He successfully got her strapped in, however, and handed her a bottle. Almost instantly, she quieted down, taking her lunch and happily starting to drink.

Yuuri gave a sigh of relief as he looked down at her, and deemed it safe to sit down and eat his own lunch. When Aki had finished and Yuuri had eaten most of his lunch, he decided to try giving her a nap again. Miraculously, after about half an hour, she seemed to actually be asleep. Quietly, he crept out of her bedroom and cleaned up the dishes from lunch. When that was done and she still seemed to be asleep, Yuuri found himself at a bit of a loss as to what to do. She hadn’t given him a break at all yesterday, so it felt strange to not be busy with a baby right now. 

He wandered into his bedroom and saw his phone lying on the bed, and suddenly remembered that Victor had said he would try to call. He darted over to snatch up his phone, and saw to his chagrin that it was showing three missed calls from his husband. He unlocked the phone and saw that there were voicemails too. He opened up the first one, which turned out to be from yesterday at lunch. He remembered with a sinking stomach that he hadn’t made a bento for Victor today since he had slept in so late, and resolved to make one for tomorrow after he was done listening to the messages. 

He tapped save on the first message when it was done, and selected the next one. This one was from last night, with Victor telling him of his dinner invite. Towards the end of the message, though, another man’s voice that Yuuri didn’t recognize broke into the background. “Please, call me Oleg,” it said. Yuuri hardly heard the rest of the message after that, letting his hand drop down onto his lap. Who was that? Was that Victor’s new boss? Victor had called him Oleg Antonovich, but the man had said just to call him Oleg. With most of their skating friends, it was fairly normal for both himself and Victor to refer to them with just their given names, with neither honorifics nor their patronym, but it was rare by Russian standards for someone that you weren’t close with to call you by just your name, particularly a supervisor. The fact that this man was asking Victor to just use his given name indicated that he felt a closeness with Victor. Yuuri’s mind raced. Exactly what had happened at work yesterday? And then Victor had gone out to dinner with this man? He realized that he had no idea when Victor had even come home last night. For all he knew, they had stayed out all night together…

No, he was being ridiculous! After just one day away, he was already suspecting that something was happening at his husband’s work? He shook his head violently in an attempt to clear away the intrusive thoughts. It was likely just a welcome dinner as a congratulations on entering the company. And the matter of asking Victor to call him just Oleg...well, that was probably just because they worked in the skating industry. Undoubtedly, they came in contact with many skaters who would be used to going by their given names alone, so it was probably just common practice at the company to do so. 

Numbly, Yuuri looked down at his phone and noticed that there was one voice message left. He clicked on it and held the phone up to his ear. 

Victor’s voice sprang to life. “Solnyshko, it’s me. I just wanted to call and see how you and Aki are doing. I’m guessing that she’s running you around all over the place today.” His voice softened as he continued, “I’m heading out for lunch, but you can call me at any time today and I’ll try my best to answer. I’ll be home later for dinner. I love you.” Yuuri smiled and was about to put the phone down when he heard a faint voice in the background of the message and recognized the same voice from the previous message. “Victor,” it said, “Where would you like to go–”

The message clicked off, and Yuuri stared down at his phone, feeling numb. Before he could formulate any coherent thoughts, Aki’s stuttering cry came from over the baby monitor, and he jumped up to get her, shoving the phone under his pillow as he went. He didn’t want to think about its existence for a while.

Aki slept fitfully until he finally gave up and brought her out of her crib in the middle of the afternoon, and time seemed to fly by with attending to her until Yuuri looked at the clock and realized that it was time to be starting dinner. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of when Victor would be coming home. He remembered the voice on the phone though, and decided not to worry about it. He would make a portion for Victor, and if he needed dinner when he got home, he could always warm it up. Binding Aki to his back, he set to work in the kitchen.

He was trying his best to lose himself in cooking when Aki’s little voice cooed in his ear. He murmured distractedly, “Hai, hai, I’m almost done here, then I can hold you again.”

“Why don’t I just take her now?”

The voice at his side made Yuuri jump, and he whirled around to see his husband standing there smiling. Aki gave a loud squeal, and tried to reach her hands out to her papa. Victor offered her his finger as he leaned in and gave his husband a kiss. “Tadaima, lyubov moya.” 

Despite his swirling emotions, Yuuri’s face broke into a genuine smile. “Okaeri, Vitya.” 

Victor unwrapped Aki, careful to keep the cloth wrap from getting in his husband’s way. Removing it from Yuuri’s body, he took Aki into one arm, smiling at her as she giggled in delight. Yuuri turned back to his task. “She missed you.”

“And did you miss me, too?”

Yuuri felt his face flush as he muttered, “Of course I did.” Turning around, he waved towards the cabinets. “As long as you’re here, can you get the dishes down for dinner? It’s almost done.”

Victor gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. “Certainly, zoloste.” As he bustled around, Yuuri smiled to himself. He hadn’t admitted it to himself, but he really had missed his husband the past two days. 

The smile stayed on as he finished making dinner and served it. He tried to take Aki so he could put her into her high chair, but Victor stopped him, saying, “I’ll just hold her. I’ve missed her today.”

Yuuri nodded and took his own seat, and they began eating. “How was your day, Vitya?” he asked cautiously.

Victor swallowed his mouthful of food. “It was fine. I feel like I’m catching on to things quickly, probably because I’ve done some work with choreography before. It’s more leaning about how they expect me to interact with the skaters, and doing things to their standards.” He studied Yuuri intently. “How was your day? You slept a lot last night, are you feeling any better?”

“I’m fine,” Yuuri said quickly. “I wasn’t really feeling badly yesterday or anything, I just went to sleep a little early, that’s all.” He smiled in a way that he hoped was convincing.

Victor regarded him closely before going back to his meal. In a low voice, he said, “Well, I hope that you’re feeling fine. Because if I remember correctly, I promised to give you special attention yesterday.” He raised his eyes to give his husband a piercing look.

Yuuri shivered. “Yes,” he murmured. 

“Oh, and before I forget, tomorrow I’m going out of the office with Oleg to meet a few skaters that I might be working with. I’ll probably be back at the same time, I just wanted to let you know in case it ends up being late, so you’re not worried about me.”

Yuuri felt himself twitch at his husband’s use of Oleg’s name, but he managed to keep his face neutral as he nodded. “Thank you, Vitya, that’s good to know.”

It looked like Victor was going to respond, but Aki, apparently done with her bottle, threw it on the floor and started fussing. Despite Yuuri’s protests that he could deal with her, Victor took her off for a change and put her to bed, saying that he could finish eating later. After Yuuri finished, he put Victor’s plate in the fridge next to his bento for the next day, and a small part of him wondered petulantly if he had eaten enough at lunch with Oleg so that he wasn’t hungry now. 

He tried his best to dispel these thoughts, and went to take a shower and settle down for the night. Victor joined him partway through his shower, and made good on his promise from earlier. After they had made love, Yuuri was carried tenderly to bed. But he found it very difficult to sleep, even after Victor had joined him and fallen asleep. Eventually, his exhaustion won over his anxiety, and he drifted off to sleep.

The next day Yuuri awoke to Victor shaking him gently. He rolled over in bed, squinting up sleepily at his husband. “Lyubimiy,” he whispered, “I’m sorry to wake you up, but I have to go to work, and Aki’s here. Can I give her to you?”

Yuuri stretched his arms up and nodded, reaching for his daughter. Carefully, his husband placed her next to his pillow, settling her in so she was resting in the crook of Yuuri’s arm. “I have to go to work now. I found the bento, thank you so much for making it for me.” He kissed Aki’s head, then Yuuri’s. “I love you. Ittekimasu.”

“Itterasshai,” he mumbled, trying his best to smile. He watched Victor leave the bedroom, then turned to Aki, noting that she had already closed her eyes and would hopefully allow him to snooze a little longer. 

He was woken up a little later by a loud voice. “Katsudon, are you here?”

He started up from the bed, confused and still half-asleep. “Yuri? Is that you?” he called back, his voice thick with sleep.

Footsteps came down the hall, accompanied by a voice saying, “I hope you’re decent, because I’m coming in.” The bedroom door opened, and sure enough, there stood Yuri with his signature scowl. 

“What are you doing here?” Yuuri’s mind was so muddled with sleep that he wasn’t really sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Your husband asked me to come here and check on you. He said you’d been having a hard time with Aki.” He looked at the baby, who had sat up at his arrival, and was now smiling and stretching her arms out towards the blond. His expression softened, and he walked over to the bed and picked her up. Yuuri made a noise of protest, but Yuri snapped, “You clearly need to sleep a little. Go back to bed and I’ll watch her for a bit. I can at least look after her for the morning while you rest.” Without waiting for an answer, he whirled around on his heel and left the room, shutting the door with surprising care.

Yuuri must have fallen asleep again after that, because the next thing he was aware of was the smell of cooking food. He sat up and yawned, fishing for his phone and glasses to see the time. His eyebrows shot up when he realized it was past noon. He scrambled out of bed, shrugging himself into a shirt and sweatpants, and went to find Yuri. He followed the smell of food into the kitchen, and saw Yuri sitting at the table with Aki in her high chair. When Yuuri entered he grunted in greeting. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you would wake up.”

Yuuri scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I slept for a long time. I’m sorry, Yuri.”

The younger man scowled darkly. “Don’t be sorry. That’s why I came over.” He gestured towards the other side of the table. “I made some for you, too, but I covered it since I wasn’t sure when you would wake up.” 

Yuuri walked to the indicated seat and pulled plastic wrap off of his plate. His stomach growled as he picked up his fork. He hadn’t realized how hungry he had been.

As he began eating, however, Aki began to fuss. He started to stand, but Yuri glared at him. “Sit your ass down. I’m already done eating, I’ve got her.” He undid the straps of the high chair and lifted Aki out. “I’m going to take her to her room and read to her a bit, and try to get her to nap.” Slinging a burp cloth casually over his shoulder, he hoisted the baby up and began patting her on the back as he walked out of the room.

Left alone to enjoy his food leisurely, Yuuri’s thoughts began to wander. Had it really been that obvious to Victor that he’d been struggling? He hadn’t meant to make his husband worry about him. It was really sweet that he had called in Yuri as back up, but he’d have to make sure to try harder in the future so he wouldn’t worry his husband. He didn’t want Victor to have any misgivings about his new job because of his own inadequacies. 

When he had finished eating and cleaned up all the dishes, he went down the hall to Aki’s room, thinking that he could relieve Yuri if Aki was still awake. As he opened the door slowly, he saw Aki asleep on Yuri, rocking slowly back and forth in the chair next to her crib. When Yuri saw him, he held up a finger, then stood up slowly and smoothly with the ease of practice. Cautiously, he placed Aki in her crib and shimmied his arms out from under her, then backed away slowly, shutting the door as quietly as possible. He gestured down the hallway towards the living room, and Yuuri obediently followed him.

Once they were clear, Yuri seemed to let out his breath. “Well, I think I got her to sleep. I’ll go pick up the dishes, and then I should probably be going.”

“I already got them. And you’ve done so much already.”

Yuri grunted. “It wasn’t a big deal, I just hung out with Aki for a few hours.” He squinted at Yuuri. “More than that, you’d better be taking care of yourself. Try not to worry Victor any more. He was practically begging me to come check on you.”

Yuuri felt a twinge of guilt, but smiled at the younger man. “I’ll do my best.”

Yuri nodded. “Good.” He walked to the door to put his shoes on, saying, “Oh, and I put some of Aki’s clothes in the wash, so they should probably be ready to take out soon.” He opened the door and gave Yuuri one last stare. “You sure you’ll be ok?”

“Yes, Yuri, I’ll be fine, thanks to you. Thank you so much for your help.” He bowed at the waist, hoping to convey his appreciation. 

Yuri grunted. “All right. I’ll be going then. See you.” He shut the door behind him.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully, with Aki actually taking a decent nap for the first time in days. Yuuri finished up the household chores he had been putting off, all the while feeling a prickling sense of guilt about worrying his husband. By the time Victor came home, he had decided that he was definitely not going to give him reason to worry again. He thanked his husband properly with a nice dinner and a show of appreciation in bed, but vowed to himself to try harder.

The next few weeks passed by, and Yuuri’s days eventually fell into an uneasy pattern. Aki was still fussing a lot, but Yuuri grew more accustomed to even less sleep than he’d been getting before. He did his best to keep up with everything around the house while catering to her demands, as well as making sure Victor had meals. His husband often gave him long, scrutinizing glances, but Yuuri was careful to always wear a smile so that Victor wouldn’t be worried.

Things at Victor’s job seemed to be getting busier as everyone prepared for the upcoming season, which worked to Yuuri’s advantage. Victor started coming home later, and often when he was at home he fielded calls from his supervisor, Oleg. Whenever he took a call he would go into a different room, and while Yuuri appreciated the fact that Victor was trying to respect his space, he couldn’t help but feel a little twinge of jealousy every time it happened. 

Nevertheless, things settled into an uneasy peace around the Katsuki-Nikiforov household, and Yuuri did his best to maintain it, unaware of when it would shatter.


	6. Chapter 6

“Victor, what are you doing tonight?”

Victor, who had been thinking about Yuuri, looked up at the doorway to his office with some surprise. Oleg was standing there with an expectant look on his face. Quickly, Victor tried to remember what he had been asked, and rapidly recalled the words. His attitude became wary, but he answered lightly, “I don’t really have any plans, I was just going home.”

Oleg laughed. “That’s exactly the problem. We usually have a drinking party when we get a new hire, but you dash home so fast every night that we haven’t had the opportunity.”

Victor smiled tightly. “Well, with the longer hours we’ve been putting in, it’s nice to go home at the end of the day.”

Waving his hand dismissively, Oleg said, “You can make time for just tonight. It’s the weekend starting tomorrow. Besides, do you realize that you’ve been here almost a month and we still haven’t held a welcoming party for you yet?”

Victor stared at him for a moment, trying to think if there was a way he could gracefully get out of this. He had already made the mistake of telling Oleg that he didn’t have any plans. He sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

Oleg’s blue-gray eyes lit up. “Wonderful! I’ll tell the rest of the department then. Hurry up and finish so we can get going soon!” He bustled away from Victor’s office.

Sighing, Victor took out his phone. He was pretty much done with his work anyway. Unlocking the phone, he pressed the call button and selected his husband’s name. The phone rang twice before it was picked up. “Moshi moshi, Vitya?”

“Da, it’s me.”

“Are you coming home now?” Victor had been making it a habit of calling when he was leaving work so that Yuuri knew when to expect him home, so it was reasonable for him to think this was the reason for this call.

Suppressing a sigh of disappointment, Victor said, “No, zvezda moya, I’m afraid I’m not coming home right now. Oleg is insisting that we all go out for a drinking party to welcome me to the department.” 

There was a silence on the other end. Victor said questioningly, “Yuuri?”

“Yes, Vitya, I’m here. That sounds like fun. Should I leave a dinner plate in the fridge for when you get home?”

Victor didn’t miss the odd tone in his husband’s voice. “If you’d rather have me come home, I can tell Oleg no.”

“No, no, you should go. He wants to have a party for you, it would be rude if you turned him down now. We’ll be fine, we’ll just see you when you get home.”

Victor hesitated. He knew that his husband probably wanted him to come home, but also didn’t want to seem like a demanding spouse. “Well, I guess I’ll just go for a little while and come home, then. I want to see Aki before she goes to bed.”

“All right, anata. We’ll see you later.”

He wanted to protest more, but he decided to follow Yuuri’s lead. “I love you, solnyshko.”

“I love you too. See you later.”

The phone clicked off, and Victor stared at it for a second, feeling reluctant. 

A voice interrupted his thoughts. “Sounds like you’re ready to go, Victor! Shall we head out, then?”

He looked up to see Oleg’s handsome face, but the smile on it did nothing but annoy Victor. Nevertheless, he pasted on his podium smile and responded, “Yes, we can go. I’ll follow your car.”

Feeling reluctant, Victor went out to the parking lot and got into his car, following Oleg to a nearby bar. He sat in his car after finding a parking spot on the street, and pulled out his phone, staring at the lock screen image of Yuuri, trying to convince himself to go inside. He sighed and turned his screen off. The sooner he went in and got it over with, the sooner he could go home to his family.

He entered the bar and instantly saw the tables that his department had pushed together. Oleg saw him first and waved him over. As he drew closer, Oleg said, “Victor, come sit over here!” 

Victor gave a tight smile and obeyed, since the chair next to Oleg was the only one still available. Thankfully, as soon as he sat down, his other coworkers started introducing themselves and asking him a million questions, and he actually started to have an enjoyable time. The only problem was that everyone insisted on buying him drinks, and he felt like he couldn’t politely decline. As the night stretched on, he grew more and more fuzzy, and finally lost consciousness altogether.

When he regained himself, he had the unpleasant sensation of movement. He tried to force his eyes open, but they were very heavy. He scrunched his face up and tried again, this time succeeding.

It took him a few seconds for his brain to process that he was in a car that appeared to be moving. Confused, he turned his head to try to see what else he was missing, and noticed Oleg.

His movements must have attracted the other man’s attention. Oleg turned to him with a smile. “Ah, Victor, you’re awake. You got rather drunk at the bar, so I’m taking you home.”

Victor wetted his lips, and slurred, “Do you know where I live?”

“Yes, your address was on your employment application.”

Something about that seemed odd, but Victor’s muddled brain wouldn’t focus on what it was. The important thing was that he was going home to Yuuri and Aki. He nodded sleepily, but then remembered something else. “Where’s my car?”

“It’s at the bar. You can get it in the morning, or I can help you pick it up if you want.”

Victor nodded again and allowed his head to loll backward. “That’s nice. So I get to go see Yuuri now.”

Oleg’s voice sounded strange as he replied, “Yes, that’s right. And look, here we are.” The car made a few more curving motions, then stopped. Obediently, Victor reached for the handle and tried to open the door, but Oleg chided him, “Now, none of that. I’ll come around and get you. You couldn’t walk out of the bar, so I had to carry you. I’ll bring you inside, too. I don’t want you getting hurt going up the stairs.” He got out of the car and disappeared, but soon Victor’s door was opening, and Oleg was leaning over him, undoing his buckle. Trying to protest, Victor shoved weakly at his hands, but he was thoroughly ignored. Once he was free, Oleg said, “Up we go,” and picked up Victor’s body, holding one arm behind his back and the other under his knees.

Victor disliked this very deeply. As they started moving, he opened his mouth and tried to protest, but all that came out was a muddled noise. Deciding that words weren’t going to work, he instead started to squirm in an attempt to convey his wish to be set down. Infuriatingly, there was only a chuckle in answer from above his head. “Now, Vitya, don’t struggle. We’re almost at the top of the stairs, we don’t want to fall down.”

Presently, the motion stopped, and Victor heard two sharp taps. He tried to focus his vision, and realized that they were in front of his apartment.


	7. Chapter 7

Two sharp knocks sounded on the door, and Yuuri started up from his seat in his armchair. He had dozed off waiting for Victor to come home, and now had absolutely no idea what time it was. He scrambled out of his seat to answer the door, not really thinking about the fact that Victor would have just opened it. Since this didn’t occur to him, he was rather shocked when he opened the door and found a tall, handsome man with black hair holding his husband in a princess carry. He blinked heavily, trying to fight away the last vestiges of sleepiness from his accidental nap.

The man spoke first. “Good evening, I’m Oleg Antonovich, Victor’s supervisor. We went out for drinks tonight and he had rather too much, so I brought him home.”

“Ah,” Yuuri said, not really sure what else to say to this man.

Luckily for him, Victor’s eyes locked on him, and immediately his entire face melted into his ridiculous heart-shaped grin. “Yuuuuuri!” he slurred, and leaned forward, trying to touch his husband.

Oleg, however, took a step back. “We don’t want him falling. He couldn’t even walk out of the bar. Where’s the bedroom? I can carry him there.”

Now Yuuri was fully awake. “Oh, that’s not necessary, you can put him on the couch. I can carry him in further when he’s ready.”

Oleg’s gaze swept up and down Yuuri, and he instantly felt every ounce of the extra pounds he had gained since they’d adopted Aki. He gave what Yuuri thought was a rather scornful smile, and replied, “Well, if you’re sure then.” Stepping around Yuuri, he carried Victor to the couch, laying him down gently. Straightening up, he walked back to the door and turned to face Yuuri. “His car is still at the bar. If there’s anything else I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to have Victor contact me. Good night.” With a sleek smile, he stepped out of the apartment and left.

Yuuri stared after him for a moment, then shut the door with a little more force than was strictly necessary. He stood there, fuming, until he heard Victor’s voice call, “Lapochka? Where are you?”

Hurrying over to Victor, Yuuri knelt down next to the couch. “Vitya, you’re a mess. Do you want to just sleep here?”

Shaking his head vehemently, Victor slurred, “No, I wanna sleep with you.”

Despite his annoyance, Yuuri smiled. Victor was really too cute. “All right. Hold on just a moment, I’ll take you there.” He stood up and tried to pick up his husband in the same hold that Oleg had used, but was pushed away. Shocked, he drew back to look at Victor, who was wearing a pouting face. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, and then reached his arms out to Yuuri. “Like this,” he said.

A chuckle escaped Yuuri as he bent down to allow his husband to sling his arms up over his neck. He grasped Victor under his bottom and lifted him up. Victor’s legs wrapped around his waist and his head dropped to Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Is this better?” Yuuri asked.

Victor nodded, and hugged him tighter. With a wry smile on his face, Yuuri trudged down the hallway, carrying his husband to bed. When they arrived, however, Victor refused to let him go, and immediately fell asleep with his body clinging onto Yuuri’s. Yuuri felt his own exhaustion take over, and drifted off to sleep as well.

The next morning he awoke to Victor’s steady breathing. This was the first time in several weeks that he had woken up before his husband, and he took the opportunity to admire the way the sunlight played over the beautiful silver hair. After a few minutes, he realized that the sunlight would bother Victor when he inevitably woke up with a hangover, and he carefully disentangled himself from the other man’s clinging grasp. He got up and drew the curtains on the windows, making sure that there were no slivers of light shining through. He then tiptoed out of their bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Realizing that he hadn’t been woken up by Aki last night at all after Victor returned, he carefully crossed the hallway to her room and opened the door. As soon as he poked his head in, he saw movement in the crib as Aki hauled herself into a sitting position. She started cooing gently, and Yuuri walked over to her with a smile as he lifted her out of her crib. “You’ve been such a good girl, haven’t you, my Akilina?” he whispered as he turned to carry her to the kitchen. “You have to be quiet for Papa this morning, all right? Now let’s go get you something to eat, and make Papa some nice strong tea.”

He managed to keep Aki quiet for the next hour until Victor came shuffling sleepily into the kitchen, squinting against the light from the windows. When she saw him, she instantly started her cooing call that she used for her papa, stretching her pudgy little arms out towards him.

“Aki, let Papa be, he just woke up and he’s not feeling well,” Yuuri said quietly, trying to keep his voice low so it wouldn’t disturb his husband.

But Victor shuffled over to them and said, “No, lyubov moya, I’ll take her. Papa missed you yesterday!” He lifted his daughter up as he addressed her and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. She squealed in delight. He winced and said, “Ah, but I can do without that noise right now.” Yuuri reached his hands out to take her back, but Victor smiled. “No, I didn’t mean I don’t want to hold her.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Tea?” Yuuri nodded and indicated the samovar on the counter. Victor went to the cupboard and took out his favorite mug, the one with a picture of Yuuri skating emblazoned on it, and filled it with tea. He came back over to the table, sitting down and settling Aki onto his knee. He sat for a few minutes in silence, drinking his tea, and Yuuri waited for him to be ready to speak.

Eventually he looked up, and his blue eyes were much clearer. “How did I get back last night?” he asked.

Yuuri felt himself twitch a little, but tried to hide it by lifting up his own tea cup in front of his face as he answered. “Oleg Antonovich brought you back.”

Victor frowned. “I don’t remember anything after being at the bar. Everyone kept buying me drinks, and it felt rude to refuse anyone. Where’s my car?”

“Oleg Antonovich said that it’s at the bar. I was considering calling a service to go get it for you, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that since I know how protective you get of that pink monstrosity.”

Victor laughed, and then winced as the sound reverberated in the kitchen. “No, it’s fine, zvezda moya, you can have them pick it up. I think I’ll probably be stuck inside for a little while today.” He gave a lopsided smile.

Inspecting his husband’s face carefully, Yuuri asked, “So you really don’t remember anything that happened when you got home?”

“No, I don’t. Why, did something happen with Oleg?” Victor’s voice suddenly grew sharp, and he leaned forward to study his spouse’s face.

“No, of course not, Vitya,” Yuuri said hastily. “I was just thinking...since he was so kind and brought you home, we should do something to thank him.” He took a deep breath and steeled himself. “It would be nice if you invited him over for dinner.”

Victor’s face became blank at the suggestion, and he leaned back in his seat. “Ah, I see. Well, lapochka, if that’s what you want, then I’ll invite him over. When would be a good day for you?”

Yuuri considered this, and decided that it was better to get it over with sooner rather than later. “Why don’t you see if he can come tomorrow night?”

After a moment of silence, his husband nodded. “I’ll call him later and see if he wants to come over.”

Yuuri smiled tightly and steered the conversation towards different topics, and they passed the rest of the morning amiably. Yuuri soaked in his husband’s presence as much as he could. Lately, it had felt as if he hadn’t seen Victor at all, and he was starting to feel strangely detached from his spouse. He deeply disliked the distance that he felt growing between them, and many times over the past few weeks he had wondered if Victor was going to get to a point with his career where he realized that he was better off without Yuuri and a family weighing him down. Just having time with his husband helped allay some of those fears, so by the time Aki was down for her afternoon nap, Yuuri was feeling rather relaxed.

As he was coming out of her bedroom, Victor met him in the hall, phone in hand. “I just talked to Oleg, and he says tomorrow night is fine. Do you need me to go shopping for anything?”

Despite the suggestion being his, Yuuri felt a sense of dread at the news that Oleg would be coming for dinner. He put on a tight smile and said, “That would be nice, anata. I’ll make a list for you.” 

Yuuri spent the rest of that day and most of the next running around making sure the apartment was spotless and preparing for dinner. He decided to pull out all the stops and planned an elaborate dinner with appetizers and a dessert, carefully coordinating the menu so that all the flavors would compliment each other. By the time dinner arrived the next day, Yuuri had worked himself into a frenzy with his determination that every detail be perfect. Victor had been on Aki duty for most of the weekend, but he had done his best to help, although his efforts almost annoyed Yuuri more than anything. He had finally been relegated to setting the table when there was a knock on the door. 

Not wanting to disturb Victor, Yuuri called, “I’ll get it.” He bustled over and opened the door, and was met with the sight of the same tall, handsome man who had brought Victor home. 

Oleg smiled coolly as his eyes swept up and down Yuuri, taking in everything from his slightly mussed hair to the apron tied around his waist. Oleg was dressed in a dark sweater and fitted black pants that accentuated his body shape. He said, “Thank you for inviting me. We didn’t really get a chance to talk before, so once again, I am Oleg Antonovich Nosov, and I am Victor’s direct supervisor at the federation. And you are Yuuri Katsuki?”

A voice from behind them said darkly, “Katsuki-Nikiforov.” 

Yuuri turned around and saw Victor, holding Aki. Oleg’s smile warmed up as he saw Victor, and he held out a bottle. “Ah, Victor, thank you for having me as well. I brought a bottle of champagne.” 

“That was very kind of you. Dorogoi, do you mind taking it to the kitchen, since I’m holding Aki?”

“Of course, Vitya.” Yuuri reached out and took the bottle, and thought that he saw an unpleasant flicker in Oleg’s eyes. He tried to ignore it and bustled back to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “Dinner is almost ready, if you’d all like to go get settled in. I already put the appetizers on the table.”

He listened as two voices entered the dining room, and gritted his teeth when Oleg laughed brightly. He tried desperately to get a hold of his emotions. Oleg was just Victor’s boss, there was obviously nothing going on. He was being ridiculous to feel jealous like this. Taking a deep breath, he finished plating the main course and carried it into the dining room.

As he entered, he saw Oleg giving Victor a gentle smile that immediately set his nerves back on edge. He forced a tight smile onto his face and took his seat as he set down the dishes. “Here we are, dinner is ready!”

Victor beamed at his husband. “It looks amazing, lyubimiy.” 

His smile relaxed a little as he absorbed the praise. His eyes flickered towards Oleg, and he was shocked to see that the blue-gray eyes were boring into him with an angry intensity. When Victor turned away from Yuuri, however, the look was gone, and Oleg was back to his calm smile. 

Feeling shaken, Yuuri tried to ignore the incident, but several times throughout the meal, he caught Oleg giving him similar looks when Victor’s back was turned. By the time they were done with dessert, Yuuri was feeling frazzled and confused, and was ready for the evening to be over. Aki seemed to share the sentiment, and started fussing. Victor immediately took her out of her high chair, patting her on the back as he said, “Well, she actually lasted quite a while, didn’t she? Guess she’s decided it’s bed time, though.” He stood up and said, “Oleg, thank you for coming. I’ll be putting Aki to bed, which usually takes a while, but please feel free to finish your champagne. Yuuri will be more than happy to see you off when you’re ready.” He smiled at their guest and left, carrying the baby.

Yuuri watched him go for as long as he could before turning back to Oleg. When their eyes met, Yuuri started at the intensity of the glare that met him. Awkwardly, he laughed and said, “Well, I hope that dinner met your standards.”

Oleg leaned forward and spoke in a soft voice, “Let’s not pretend to play nicely, Yuuri. I think you’ve realized by now that I don’t like you.”

He blinked. “I’m not really sure what I’ve done to offend you,” he said carefully. He had to tread lightly here to avoid jeopardizing Victor’s job.

“Oh, you haven’t done anything to me personally. But here you are, monopolizing the man who’s possibly the greatest skater of our age, and you have the audacity to act as if you’re worthy of him.” He curled his lip as his eyes raked over Yuuri. “You clearly don’t even care enough about him to try to keep yourself in shape. You’ve really let yourself go since retirement, haven’t you? Not that you were ever really much to look at. Honestly, I don’t understand what he sees in you at all. Did you do something to him to force him to marry you?”

Yuuri stared at Oleg, open-mouthed, speechless in the face of the venom being unleashed on him. “I..I didn’t…” he managed to get out before Oleg cut him off again.

“No, of course you didn’t, you don’t seem like the type who’s smart enough to do something like that. But whatever it is, you should realize soon that you’re not good enough for him. He’s already starting to lose interest in you, so you should cut your losses before it gets any worse. He deserves to have someone like me, who isn’t tying him down with anything. I’m older than him, so I’m in a better position to support him, and I certainly take better care of myself.” His gaze flickered down to Yuuri’s stomach, and he rose out of his seat, leaning forward to whisper his parting words. “Give up on Vitya now. He’ll be much better off with someone like me.” Not even giving Yuuri another glance, he brushed past the Japanese man, and a few moments later Yuuri heard the sound of the apartment door closing as he remained frozen in stunned silence.


	8. Chapter 8

Victor heard the apartment door shut and breathed a short sigh of relief. He had felt tense the entire time they were having dinner, and although he felt a bit bad leaving his spouse alone with Oleg, he had jumped at the chance to put Aki to bed and escape the oppressive atmosphere in the dining room. Besides, he knew that Yuuri was an excellent host, and could easily see to their guest’s needs alone. 

He glanced down at Aki, and saw that she was sleeping soundly. He decided that since Oleg was gone, it was worth it to try to get her to sleep by herself. Gingerly, he stood up and placed her in her crib, sneaking out of her room as quietly as he could. 

He waited a moment outside of her door to make sure she wouldn’t start crying before deeming it safe to go find his husband. He went into the dining room and saw Yuuri still sitting at the table, staring at the dish in front of him with a haunted look.

Frowning, Victor walked over to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder as he said, “Lapochka, what’s wrong?”

Yuuri jumped, and his eyes seemed to panic for an instant as they looked at Victor. Then he smiled and said, “Oh, Vitya. I’m sorry. I was just staring off into space. I really should clean the dishes.”

He stood up, but Victor held him in place by his shoulder. “I’ll clean them. You go lie down. You look tired. And I’m not surprised, with how much you ran around the past two days to get ready for this. It’s my turn to put in some work.” He smiled and gave his spouse a little push out of the dining room. Obediently, Yuuri shuffled away, seeming rather dazed. 

Victor watched him leave, then hurried to clean up the dishes. Something seemed off about Yuuri, and he wanted to get to him quickly to figure out what it was. Finally, he finished cleaning everything and scurried to their bedroom, opening the door quietly in case his husband was asleep. 

Yuuri was laying on his back on their bed, staring vacantly at the ceiling. Victor shut the door and went over to him, sitting on his side of the bed tentatively. “Yuuri? Are you all right?”

The dark eyes flicked over to him, and he was surprised to see a spark shoot through them. He found himself being yanked down onto the bed, and let out a little yelp before his mouth was being sealed off by Yuuri’s. His husband was harsh and demanding with the kiss, shoving his tongue into Victor’s mouth and stealing his breath. The suddenness of the whole thing surprised him so much that he hardly noticed that Yuuri had worked his shirt off until he was being pushed onto his back. Yuuri loomed over him for a moment as he tore off his own shirt, then descended back down to yank his pants and underwear off in one motion. Before Victor could register what was going on, Yuuri was taking him into his mouth.

The sensation of Yuuri's lips closing over him made his hips buck up off the bed. He rapidly started growing hard, but tried desperately to get control over his thoughts. "Muzh moy, what is going on?" he managed to gasp out.

Yuuri looked up at him, and without removing his mouth, muttered, "Ah jus' need oo."

It wasn't fair when Yuuri was that sexy. Victor nodded, giving in to the pleasure. He decided he would ask his husband what was bothering him tomorrow. Tonight, though, he would just focus on giving him the physical comfort he seemed to need. 

He was almost fully hard now, and said through gritted teeth, “Zolotse, that’s enough. I’m ready now.”

Yuuri removed his mouth and stood up next to the bed, stripping off the rest of his clothes and fishing lube out of the nightstand. He opened the bottle and poured some onto Victor’s dick, making the silver-haired man flinch at the coldness of the liquid. Tossing the bottle to one side, Yuuri knelt on the bed over Victor’s hips and positioned himself over the erect cock. Slowly, he lowered himself onto it, biting his lip as he sank his body fully down. When he had bottomed out, he sat for a moment, panting.

Worried, Victor said, “Do you need to stop for a minute?”

Yuuri shook his head, and his black hair swayed beautifully. “No, I’m fine now. I’m gonna start moving.” He lifted his body up with his knees, and came crashing back down. They both cried out at the same time, and Yuuri threw his head back as he began a rhythm, rising up and down over and over. After a few minutes, he leaned himself forward and rested his hands on Victor’s thighs, squeezing them tightly for purchase as he continued bucking up and down. 

His nipples were enticingly close, so Victor reached out and twisted them gently with his fingers. Yuuri dipped his head down further and whined. 

Victor had been trying desperately to go at his husband’s pace, but this adorableness was just too much. He grabbed Yuuri’s hips and thrusted upward savagely. Yuuri’s head snapped up, and he cried out sharply. “Vityaaa! You can...just...lie there. I’ll...I’ll do you…”

“No way,” Victor growled, thrusting harder.

“Aaah, Vitya, I’m...I’m going to come.”

“Me too, lapochka.”

Immediately Yuuri’s hand splayed onto Victor’s chest, and he attempted to stop their motions. “No, Vitya, you can’t come yet. I need you to fuck me longer.”

Fuck, why was this man so sexy? Victor started to push again as he said, “It’s all right, Yuuri, I’ll give you as much cum as you want tonight.”

His husband seemed to accept this, as his body relaxed and became easier to thrust into. Within a minute, they both were coming, Victor inside of his husband, while Yuuri’s seed splayed all over Victor’s chest. When he had spent himself, Yuuri leaned forward on his hands, panting heavily.

But Victor was determined to honor his lovely husband’s wishes. He pushed Yuuri backwards off of him, flattening him on the bed and then gently rolling him over onto his stomach. He guided his cock to his husband’s gently pulsing opening, and was intoxicated even further by the sight of some of his cum starting to leak slowly out of the hole. He dug his hands into the plump mounds of Yuuri’s ass, spreading it apart to allow himself better access. Lining himself up with the hole, he thrust inside in one smooth motion. 

Yuuri shuddered as he was entered, and Victor asked, “Does that feel all right, zvezda moya?”

The black head just nodded into the pillow.

Gripping Yuuri’s ass tighter, Victor began to fuck him, slowly and gently, trying to make up for the harshness he had used earlier. He wanted to make sure that Yuuri knew he was loved in every way, so he deliberately used every trick he could think of to make himself last as long as possible. Eventually, however, the silky smoothness of Yuuri’s ass combined with the soft wetness of the mixed lube and cum got to him. He leaned down and whispered in Yuuri’s ear, “Can I come again?”

There was another nod. Victor needed no further permission, and let go of his restraint, emptying himself inside of his husband for a second time. With an effort, he levered himself off to the side when he was finished, panting. He laid there until he caught his breath and then asked, “Do you need me to do anything for you so you can come again?”

There was no answer, so Victor reached out and shifted Yuuri’s face sideways. He was shocked to see that the other man was already asleep. He also noticed that his eyes looked swollen, and his pillow was wet with tears.

Something was definitely wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

Yuuri woke up to find that Victor had already gone to work, which was to be expected with their new routine lately. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He barely remembered going to sleep after sex last night. He had been exhausted, but had tried for so long to hold onto consciousness as he cried into his pillow, needing to feel the sensation of Victor one last time.

He had decided that he was leaving.

Oleg had been right about everything. Realistically, what could Yuuri offer to a man who was such a beautiful talent, and who had everything? He was special, Yuuri had known that for years. When Victor had shown up in Hasetsu, and really ever since, Yuuri had felt like he was living in a dream. And now it seemed like it was time to wake up. He knew that Victor had a lot going on with work right now, and Yuuri himself had noticed that he was becoming nothing more than a burden to his husband lately. If anything, Oleg’s words had just confirmed that other people saw the same thing he did: Yuuri was dragging Victor down. He was still young and had a whole life ahead of him, full of potential, and he didn’t need to be tied to a second-rate skater and a baby that would just get in his way. It would be better for Victor if they both just disappeared, to allow him to start over.

Although he had already made up his mind last night that this course of action was best for Victor, solidifying his plans in the light of day brought a new realness to it. Yuuri pulled his knees up, drew the covers over his head, and cried. He didn’t know how long he spent curled up in bed crying, but he only stopped when Aki’s wail sounded over the baby monitor. Sniffling heavily, Yuuri fished his glasses off the nightstand and forced himself to get out of bed. Aki still needed him, even if Victor didn’t. 

He tried his best to hold on to that thought as he busied himself with packing. Since his mind was made up, it would be best if they left as soon as possible. He would have to just pack a few things for the both of them and then send someone back to collect the rest of their stuff once they had settled in. He briefly considered taking Makkachin, since he knew the poodle couldn’t be left alone, but in the end he really was Victor’s dog. Instead, he called the dog sitter and told her that they would be needing her services starting this afternoon, and that the key to the apartment would be under the mat. 

More slowly than he wanted, and yet somehow more quickly, he packed up a suitcase for them, a carry-on diaper bag for the plane, and a few essentials. Putting Aki in her car seat, Yuuri gathered their things and stood at the door to the apartment, looking around. The thought came to him that it was likely the last time he would see this, and the last time it would be his home. A sudden sob choked his throat, and Makkachin, who was already confused by the bags, whined deep in his throat. Yuuri put his things down to throw his arms around the dog’s neck one last time, then quickly stood and gathered everything up again. This time he didn’t look back, shutting the door to his life with finality and sliding his key under the mat.

He had never flown with Aki before, but when he arrived at the airport the concierge had a lot of helpful advice for him as he was buying his ticket, so they managed the trip all right in the end. And having Aki to take care of distracted Yuuri from the constant need to cry in the back of his throat.

Even though he had managed to secure a direct flight, over nine hours in the plane was a lot for both of them to handle. All things told, by the time they landed in Saga, he was emotionally and physically exhausted. If Aki’s crying was any indication, she was exhausted as well. He managed to get them into a taxi with their things and on the road to Hasetsu before they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

He was shaken awake by the driver when they reached his parents’ inn. He managed to pay the man and collect Aki and their belongings together. Although in Russia it would be early evening, around time for dinner, in Japan it was into the early hours of the morning. Yuuri hadn’t really considered this when he had been booking his flight, and hadn’t even called his parents to let them know he was coming with the baby. He hesitated, trying to decide if he should go to a hotel for the night, when the door was opened and he came face-to-face with his father. 

Toshiya blinked at his son for a moment. “Yuuri, what are you doing here?”

Yuuri smiled shakily. “Hi, Otousan. Sorry to show up in the middle of the night without calling, but...well, Aki and I need somewhere to stay for a while.”

His father’s gaze swept over the baby and their luggage, and he nodded, opening the door wider as he stepped outside. Grabbing the suitcase, he said, “Come on, Yuuri, I’ll get you two settled into your old room. Try to be quiet so we don’t wake up the women.”

Yuuri tightened his grip on Aki’s car seat, nodding silently as he tried to bite back his tears. While he felt a wash of gratitude at his father’s immediate acceptance, there was nevertheless a cold squeeze around his heart as he stepped over the threshold of Yu-topia and shut the door behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Victor had awoken before Yuuri as usual, grabbing his bento out of the fridge and checking on Aki before he left. He had considered waking up Yuuri to ask him what had upset him the night before, but he decided that his sleep was more important. He left the apartment as quietly as possible and made his way to work.

During the day, he did his best to avoid Oleg, and was largely successful. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened between Oleg and his husband last night, and he wanted to talk to Yuuri about it first if possible. When lunch time rolled around, he sat in the break room with his bento and tried to call Yuuri. His husband usually made an effort to answer his lunch time calls, but sometimes he was busy with the baby and Victor left a voicemail instead.

Today, however, the phone didn’t even ring. It went straight to voicemail. Frowning, Victor hung up and stared at his phone. Maybe it had been a fluke? He tried to call again, and the same thing happened.

Now he was starting to get worried. Had Yuuri shut off his phone? Had something happened? He tried his best to calm himself down, but in light of how his husband had been acting last night, it was hard. He finally convinced himself that maybe Yuuri’s phone had just died and he hadn’t noticed. 

He found it difficult to concentrate on the rest of his work after that. Despite his best efforts, he had a mountain of work to be done, and it was well past dark by the time he was wrapping up for the day. Just as he was about to leave, Oleg appeared in his doorway.

Victor gritted his teeth. His boss was the last person he’d wanted to see right now. He stood up decisively and said, “What is it, Oleg? I was about to go home.”

The older man smiled and said, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do right now?”

Victor narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Walking closer, Oleg said, “I just think that it’s time for you to consider what’s really going to be best for you in the long run. And I think we both know that your current lifestyle isn’t the right fit for you.” He was now standing mere inches away from Victor, wearing a suggestive smile that sent unpleasant shivers down his spine.

He took a step backwards and snapped, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Oleg laughed, a deliberately breathy sound. “Oh, come on, Vitya, we both know that your husband hasn’t been paying enough attention to you lately. Besides that, he’s certainly let himself go since he got that baby. He’s hardly someone worthy of your attention, is he? Why, I’d venture a guess that he’s not satisfying you in bed anymore, either–”

Victor’s hand moved before he could think. It flew up, slapping Oleg across the face sharply. He reeled away from Victor, catching himself after a few steps. His hand slowly came up to cradle his face, and he turned back to face Victor, a stunned look on his face. 

Victor was far beyond caring about what any consequences would be. He gave Oleg a frozen smile. “You watch your fucking mouth when you’re talking about my husband. I don’t know who you think you are to talk about him like that. Yuuri has been nothing but wonderful since the day I met him, and he means the world to me. I’ve put up with a lot of overfamiliarity with you because you were my boss, but you’ve gone too far. Nobody. Insults. My. Husband.” With each punctuated word, he took another step closer to Oleg until he was breathing the last word into his face. He gave the older man a hard stare for another moment before sweeping around him and out of the office.

He didn’t look back once as he hurried to his car. His brain started running a million miles an hour as soon as he left the building. It seemed clear now that Oleg had gotten it into his head that he had some sort of chance with Victor. He had probably been the cause of Yuuri’s mood last night, one way or another. As soon as he started driving, he attempted to call Yuuri again, but it once again went straight to voicemail.

Now he was starting to panic. Yuuri had never had his phone off for this long. Something was obviously wrong. And Oleg’s words were starting to get to Victor, too. Although he had accused Yuuri of not paying enough attention to their marriage lately, Victor started to wonder if in reality he had been the one guilty of that. When he had first taken this job, he had been promised that the hours would be part-time and flexible, and it had quickly turned into a job where he had been working every day, staying out later and later while his husband was at home alone with their baby. Hadn’t it been evident in the fact that Yuuri was sleeping in every day that he needed more help at home than he was getting? And Victor had done nothing about it. He had sent Yuri over once, but after that he had simply kept going to work as normal, and hoping that the hours would even out eventually. No matter how he looked at it, he knew that whatever Yuuri was feeling was, in a big way, his own doing.

He drove home as quickly as he could with these thoughts swirling through his head, somehow miraculously avoiding several accidents. He parked the car and was out of it almost before he had the key out of the ignition, running up the stairs by twos. He reached the apartment door and fumbled for the key, bursting in at last.

The apartment was dark. Makkachin came bounding over to him, whining low in his throat, but there were no other signs of life. Victor switched on the living room light and started walking through the apartment, hoping that maybe Yuuri had fallen asleep early and forgotten to turn on the lights. Makkachin followed him forlornly as he went, which just added another layer of anxiety. He usually only followed Victor around like this when he had been left at home alone. 

Nevertheless, Victor tried to tamp down his worry until he had checked the bedrooms and kitchen. They were all empty. Making his way back to the living room, Victor sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. Makkachin whined and laid his head on Victor’s lap, seeming to sense his worry.

Where the hell had they gone? Maybe they had gone to the store? He looked over by the door to see if their shoes were missing, and his blood ran cold when he saw that not only were several pairs of shoes missing, but Aki’s car seat was also gone.

His phone was in his hand almost before he had realized it, and he was scrolling desperately through his contacts. Where could they have gone? The first possibility he thought of was Yuri, and he quickly selected his friend’s name and called. The phone rang once, twice, each ring seeming like an eternity until it was finally picked up. 

Yuri’s annoyed voice came over the speaker, seeming unnaturally loud in the vacant apartment. “Yeah, old man, what do you need?”

Victor almost cried at the normal atmosphere evoked by his tone. He managed to ask, “Yurio...are Yuuri and Aki there, by any chance?”

“What? No, they’re not here.”

Victor pressed on. “Do you have any idea where they are? Have you talked to Yuuri at all today?”

“Whoa, slow down there, old man. What’s going on? I haven’t talked to them. Are they gone? Do you need–”

Impatiently, Victor hung up the phone. There was no further point in talking to Yuri if he didn’t know where his family was. He went back to his contacts list, pressing ignore when Yuri tried to call him back. 

His next thought was his mothers. They lived fairly close to the city, and sometimes their family went to visit on the train. Aki really liked the train. He selected his mama’s phone number and waited anxiously as it rang. It was fairly common for his mama to not answer her phone right away, or sometimes even at all, as she rarely kept it close to her. Today, however, he was in luck, and she finally answered. “Vitya? Are you there?”

Her gentle voice was like a balm to his panic. He didn’t have time to be comforted, however. “Yes, Mama, I’m here,” he replied. 

“Oh, good! How are–”

“Listen, Mama, I don’t have time to chat. I need to know, are Yuuri and Aki at your house? Or have you talked to Yuuri today?”

“What? No, Vitya, they aren’t here. Are they missing?” He heard a note of concern entering his mama’s voice, and felt a pang of kinship with her. He knew that his parents, particularly his mama, loved Yuuri like a second son. 

“Yes, Mama, I came home and they were gone. Some of their shoes are missing too, and Aki’s car seat. Can you please ask Mat if she knows anything?” He was aware of the note of panic creeping into his voice, but found that he didn’t care.

“Of course. Give me a moment, I’ll ask her.” He heard the phone rustle, and then his mama’s muffled voice called, “Ronya, have you heard anything from Yuuri today?”

Even more distant, his mat’s voice replied, “No, I haven’t spoken to him today. Why?”

“Vitya is looking for him. I’ll tell him you haven’t seen him.” The phone rustled again, and his mama began to say, “Your mat hasn’t heard–”

“I heard, Mama,” Victor interrupted. “I’m sorry, but I have to let you go. I need to try to figure out where they are.”

“Please call us when you find them, or if there’s anything we can do to help.”

“Da, Mama. Thank you.”

Victor hung up the phone and stared at it, at a loss now. Those were the only places in St. Petersburg that he could think where Yuuri might have gone. He tried hard to concentrate and put himself in Yuuri’s position. If he had been very upset...there was only one other place Victor could think of that he might have gone. 

Hasetsu.

He checked the clock. It was past eight here, which meant that in Hasetsu it would be well into the early hours of the morning. He briefly considered going to sleep and calling them in the morning, or even waiting a few hours without sleeping until it was a decent time in Japan, but he quickly dismissed the thought. His family was missing, and he was going to wake up whoever it took to get them back again. He scrolled through his contacts, trying to decide which family member to call. Finally, he settled on Mari. She was the one most likely to be awake. Selecting her name, he pressed the call button and waited anxiously.

Surprisingly, after just one ring, the phone was answered. Mari’s whispered voice said, “Moshi moshi.” 

“Mari, it’s Victor. I’m really sorry to wake you up, but this is an emergency.”

“You didn’t wake me. And anyway, I figured you might be calling. Yuuri got here about an hour ago with Aki, and Otousan just settled them into Yuuri’s room without you. What’s going on? Is everything all right?”

A huge wave of relief washed over Victor, and he suddenly felt like he was going to cry. He managed to say, “Slava bogu! I couldn't find them anywhere, Mari. I’m so glad they’re safe.”

“Victor, what on earth is going on?”

“I’m not sure, Mari, but I’ll be getting on a plane to come there as quickly as I can. Don’t say anything to Yuuri, I don’t want him running off before I get there.”

Her answer was immediate. “Ryokai. I’ll do my best to make sure he stays at Yu-topia until you get here. Let me know if you need anything else to help that stupid brother of mine.”

“Thank you, Mari. I’ll be there soon.” 

Victor clicked the phone off, and sat for a moment staring at it. He was overwhelmed with relief at having located his family. He had never been that scared before, when he hadn’t known where they were. He scowled. Obviously something major had happened. Why had Yuuri run away to Hasetsu without telling him? And he’d even taken Aki, but left Makkachin. Had he been trying to leave? He didn’t want to admit it, but the whole thing smacked of a separation. He clenched his fists tight. There was no way he was going to let that happen. His family was the one thing in his life that he could never let go of, no matter the costs. He would just have to figure out some way to get Yuuri to come back, and that was all there was to it.

He stood up resolutely, and went to his bedroom to pack a carry on bag. He didn’t plan on being in Hasetsu long, but he figured he should bring a change of clothes and some toiletries just in case. He also packed a few things for Makkachin, since he planned to bring the dog along with him. Partway through his packing, he realized that he would be gone for at least a day or two at work, and should probably inform someone. Unfortunately, it was past the time when the office was open, and the only person whose personal phone number he had was Oleg. Almost disdainfully, he selected Oleg’s name from his contact list and pressed the call button.

The phone had barely rang before it was answered. “Yes, Vitya, is there something I can–”

Victor cut him off savagely. “First of all, let’s get one thing straight. I am nowhere near close enough to you for you to call me that. Please refer to me as Victor, or even Victor Roksanaich. And I didn’t call you to chat. I’m letting you know that I’m taking an indefinite vacation starting tomorrow.”

There was a pause. “Now, Victor, I can’t exactly authorise that without a reason, especially considering that you’ve only been with the federation for a month.”

Victor gritted his teeth. “I’m going to Japan for a few days.”

He could practically hear the smugness in Oleg’s voice as he purred, “Oh, and why would you be doing that, I wonder? Did Yuuri perhaps return there?”

Keeping his voice cold and even, Victor replied, “I don’t feel the need to discuss my family matters with you. All you need to know is that I’m taking personal days, or vacation days, or whatever you need to call it.”

“So I’m right, then. Vitya, please be reasonable. If he left, then there’s no reason to go chasing after him. You should just stay here. You can’t force him to come back when he clearly doesn’t want you anymore. And why should you pander to him? I can take much better care of you than he ever did.”

Victor’s blood boiled, and his voice grew even icier than before. “Like I said before, please do not call me Vitya, and my personal life is none of your affair, mainly because I wish to keep you out of it in every way possible. Even if I was not married, you wouldn’t even cross my radar. Yuuri is a thousand times more loving and wonderful than you could ever imagine.”

There was a pause, and then Oleg said in a desperate, strained voice, “I just don’t get it, Victor. I’ve done everything I can think of to show you, to convince you that I can be a good partner for you. I’ve learned everything I can about you, done all I can, and still you deny me. Why is it that he’s the only one who can make you really smile?”

“You obviously wouldn’t understand, but that’s just how love is. And now, I’m afraid I have no more time to spend on this conversation. My husband is waiting for me.” Resolutely, he clicked the phone off, ignoring the plaintive voice on the other end.

He didn’t have any more time to worry about Oleg. He needed to go to his family.


	11. Chapter 11

After Yuuri got settled into his room with Aki set up in a playpen next to him, he fell asleep and slept hard.

He awoke with a start, blinking in the bright sunlight coming through his window. He sat up, looking in the playpen for Aki, only to find it empty. In a panic, he threw off the covers and dashed out of his room, slamming the door open. 

“Otousan,” he called, dashing down the hallway, almost running into his sister carrying a stack of towels.

She smiled at him and said, “Hey there Yuuri, slow down a bit. What are you in such a hurry for?”

“Mari-neechan, do you know where Aki is?”

“Isn’t that a rude way to greet your neesan after not seeing her for months? Yes, I’ve seen Aki-chan. Okaasan has her in the kitchen. They’ve both been up for a while.”

Yuuri placed his hand on his chest. “Oh, thank goodness. I woke up and she wasn’t there.” 

“You got in so late last night that we figured you needed to rest.” She gave him a scrutinizing look. “Why did you come so late in the night without Victor, anyway? You didn’t even call us first.”

He looked away as he answered. “I’d rather not talk about it right now,” he mumbled.

She was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Well, I know I can’t force you to talk to me, but just so you know, I’m available if you want to.” She shifted her load to one hand so she could ruffle his hair. “I have to go restock the towels, but I’m sure you can find me later if you need me.” She walked away, and Yuuri stared after her for a moment, feeling conflicted. He wanted to talk to his sister, but he just didn’t know how to put his problems into words yet. 

He sighed heavily. For now, the best thing to do was go get Aki so his okaasan could get back to work. He wound his way through the inn until he was in the kitchen. His okaasan was standing with her back to the door, carrying Aki in a wrap on her back. The sight of his daughter calmed his nerves, and he smiled as he saw her little dark head resting on his mother’s shoulder. 

“Okaasan, I can take the baby now,” he said, walking towards them.

They both turned at the sound of his voice, and Aki’s plump little face broke into a grin as she gave a delighted squeal.

“Oh, Yuuri, you’re awake! You certainly slept a long time! And showing up in the middle of the night, is something wrong?” Hiroko’s equally plump face stared up at him with concern. 

His throat felt choked up, and he busied himself with undoing Aki’s wrap so he could hold her. “Ah...well, that’s…”

Hiroko smiled softly at him. “It’s all right, Yuuri. We’re always glad to have you here, and you can stay as long as you need to. And when you’re ready to talk to me, I’m here for you.”

Staring down at his okaasan, Yuuri felt the tears he’d been holding back overflow. He nodded fiercely as they started to stream down his face.

His okaasan shuffled closer, reaching up to wipe them with a towel she was holding. “There, there, now. You don’t worry about a thing, we’ll take care of you. Are you hungry?”

He wasn’t expecting to have much appetite, but surprisingly, he found that his stomach was growling at his okaasan’s suggestion. He nodded, sniffling as he tried to stop the flow of tears.

“All right. I’ll bring you something to eat, so why don’t you go sit in the dining area?”

He nodded again, and she turned around, busying herself at the stove again. He whispered, “Thank you, Okaasan,” before turning around and leaving the kitchen. 

He went to the dining room and found an open table, seating himself and placing Aki in his lap. He had barely settled in when he heard his name being called in an excited voice. “Yuuri-kun! Is that you?”

He turned in confusion and looked around, not recognizing the voice. He was startled to see a young man hurrying towards him from a few tables away. “Minami-kun?”

The man stopped in front of his table, a big grin on his face. “Yep, it’s me! I can’t believe I ran into you here! I came to relax a little bit and train at your home rink before the next season starts. I didn’t know you would be here, too! I thought you were living in Russia?”

Yuuri shifted uncomfortably. “Ah, well, yes…”

Luckily for him, Minami noticed Aki sitting in his lap, and his eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, is this your daughter? She’s so cute!” He dropped to his knees as his face melted. “Hello there, little one! Aren’t you the cutest thing? Just like your otousan!”

Despite himself, Yuuri gave a small smile. It was nice to hear his daughter being praised. 

“Oh, what’s this, Minami-kun? You found Yuuri already! As expected from his biggest fan!”

Yuuri looked up to see his mother approaching with a tray. She knelt down and started placing dishes on the table as the younger man smiled at her sheepishly.

“Well, I saw Yuuri-kun and came over to say hello, and then I was captivated by this little beauty!” Minami offered the baby his finger, and she squeezed it tightly, regarding him with wide eyes.

Hiroko smiled benevolently. “Yes, this is our Aki-chan. Isn’t she adorable?” She turned to Minami and said, “Since you’re already here, would you like to eat with them? I have your breakfast with me as well.” She indicated the dishes that remained on her tray.

Minami looked a little panicked. “Oh, I’m not sure about that, I don’t want to intrude…”

Yuuri interrupted. “It’s fine, Minami-kun. I’d be happy to have you eat with us. Right, Aki?” He gave his daughter a kiss on top of her head, and she looked up at her otousan with adoring eyes.

His mother clapped her hands gently. “There, that’s settled.” She busily unloaded the remaining dishes, gave a small bow, and stood back up, retreating to the kitchen.

Minami watched her go almost helplessly. He turned to Yuuri and said, “I really don’t have to eat here, I don’t want to bother you.”

Picking up his chopsticks, Yuuri said in a matter-of-fact voice, “It’s fine, we both have to eat, don’t we? And it’s not as if we’re strangers. We might as well eat together.” He put some rice into his mouth and said, “Besides, Aki seems to like you.”

It was true. She was staring at Minami with a solemn look that she rarely used. She seemed to be fascinated with him. He chuckled nervously and said, “I’d love to hold her, if she’d let me.”

Yuuri smiled. “We can certainly try it.” He lifted Aki out of his lap, placing her on Minami instead. He sat very still, as if frozen, as she stared up at him with that serious look. Then she reached her hand up and tugged sharply on his red lock of hair.

Yuuri couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “It seems, at the very least, that she likes your hair.”

Minami’s face finally relaxed a little, and gradually broke into a grin. “I’m glad she likes it,” he said, and picked up his chopsticks. Throughout the meal he kept talking to Aki, and they both seemed fascinated with each other. 

By the time Hiroko returned to collect their empty dishes, Yuuri and Minami were chatting freely, mostly discussing the baby. She smiled as she knelt down to the table and said, “Goodness, Yuuri, you certainly seem to be relaxed now.”

He smiled sheepishly, surprised to find that it was true. A lot of his anxiety had been lifted by being able to have a normal conversation.

“So, what are you planning to do today?” she asked.

“Hmm, I hadn’t really thought much about it. I might just walk around a little bit. I’ll probably go to the rink later.”

“That sounds lovely. Minami-kun, why don’t you go with him? I’m sure Yuuri would like the company.”

Minami’s eyes widened. “What? Me? Oh, no, I don’t want to bother Yuuri-kun. I’m sure he has things to do today.”

“But he just said that he didn’t. Besides, aren’t you here to do the exact same thing he just said he wanted to do today? And I’m sure he could use some company today.” She smiled at her son. “I’ll even watch Aki-chan. I know you probably could use a break. I remember what it was like to be a new parent.”

His eyes misted up from the love behind her offer. He nodded, furiously attempting to regain control of his emotions before he responded. “That does sound like fun, Okaasan. If you’d like to come along, that is, Minami-kun,” he added.

Minami looked like he might explode from excitement. “Of course! I’d love to!”

Hiroko smiled. “Well, that’s settled, then! Let me take these dishes back to the kitchen, and then I’ll be back for Aki-chan.” She stood and scuttled away.

Yuuri turned to the younger man with a smile. “Well, then, is there anywhere in particular you were wanting to go? I’m fine with going anywhere, for me it’s just nice to be back in Hasetsu.”

Minami squirmed a little, looking nervous. “Anywhere is fine with me, too. I’ll follow you around. I’m just happy to get to spend some time with you.”

Yuuri considered this. “Hmm, all right. Maybe we’ll visit the castle and do some shopping, then.”

At that moment Hiroko returned and collected Aki from Minami’s lap, and after Yuuri gave her a parting kiss, the two men left. They wandered around the town leisurely, heading from store to store. Minami’s eyes gleamed with bright excitement the entire time, and Yuuri gradually relaxed a little. It was hard to feel down in the face of such glaring enthusiasm. By the time they sat down on the patio of a restaurant for lunch, Yuuri had nearly forgotten the reason he had come to Hasetsu in the first place. At least, he was trying very hard to forget, and to keep the dark hurt at bay.

As they were finishing their meals, Minami looked at Yuuri with an uncharacteristically serious face and asked, “So, why are you back in Hasetsu, anyway? And why isn’t Victor with you?”

Yuuri froze with his fork in midair, his mouth suddenly dry. Slowly, he lowered his hand to his plate. Not looking at his companion, he said softly, “I...came here alone.”

Minami quickly waved his hands in front of him. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Yuuri smiled sadly. “No, it’s fine. I can’t keep avoiding it. The truth is...I left.”

“You mean...you left Victor?”

Still not looking up, Yuuri said, even more quietly, “Yes.”

“But...but why?”

Yuuri’s mouth quirked up in a humorless smirk. Minami just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He supposed that was part of his charm, though. “Well...it just seems like Vitya doesn’t need me anymore. Doesn’t need either of us. He hasn’t had a lot of time for us lately, and I’ve just been thinking...maybe he’d be better off without the two of us weighing him down. He has a lot of other options, and all I really want is for him to be happy…” He was startled to see drops of liquid fall to his plate, and lifted his hand up to his eyes. His fingers met with moisture, and he realized he was crying. Desperately, he scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to erase them.

“Oh, Yuuri-kun, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

Yuuri tried to reassure him, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a broken sound. 

A hand was placed on his back, and a voice spoke in his ear. “Why don’t you go wait on that bench over there, beneath the tree? I’ll deal with the payment and then come get you. You can have a little privacy.” Minami gave him a small push, and Yuuri obediently stood and made his way over to the bench, barely able to see it through his tears. He desperately tried to get control of his emotions, and by the time Minami came to stand in front of him, he was no longer crying. He looked up at his companion and gave him a rather watery smile. “I’m sorry, Minami-kun. I shouldn’t have dumped all of that on you.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m glad you felt like you could talk to me.” Minami did indeed look delighted, but it was a strange expression mixed with concern and some sadness. He looked around them quickly. “This isn’t really a great place to be right now. Should we go to the Ice Castle? We should have more privacy there.”

Nodding, Yuuri sniffled and stood up. They fell into step, walking silently until they reached the ice rink. As they entered, Yuuko looked up from the front desk. Taking them in, she exclaimed in surprise, “Yuuri! Is it really you? And Minami-kun! I didn’t know you two were here!”

Walking closer, Yuuri tried his best to smile. “I just got here last night, Yuuko-chan. I’d love to chat more later, but for now, is anyone using the rink?”

She shook her head. “No, there’s nobody there. If you two want to lace up, I can make sure you have some time to skate alone.” She smiled broadly at Yuuri, but her discerning gaze lingered a bit. “Make sure you come talk to me later when you’re done, ok?”

He nodded, and managed a small genuine smile. “Thanks, Yuuko-chan.”

The two men went to the area where the rental skates were stored, fishing through until they found some that would work. Silently, they both laced up. Yuuri finished first and eagerly stepped out onto the ice.

As soon as his blades touched the frozen surface, he felt his body relax a little. Even just being in the Ice Castle was relaxing for him, but being on the ice had always helped ease his anxiety. He suddenly realized that he hadn’t been to a rink since Aki had arrived. For a long time, he simply lost himself in the sensation of gliding smoothly over the ice, 

When his consciousness finally returned to him, he remembered that he wasn’t alone. He slid to a stop sideways, his skates creating a loud swish of noise in the quiet of the arena.

Minami had been a few feet behind him, and also came to a stop, looking rather startled. He barely managed to halt before running into Yuuri, and stood, panting, mere inches away.

Yuuri backed up a little, his face heating up. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “And, Minami-kun...thank you for listening to me earlier, and coming here with me. It helped.”

Minami’s voice was equally soft as he responded, “Yuuri-kun, I’m so sorry about all of that...but maybe this is an opportunity for you to consider other options?”

Yuuri looked at him sharply. “What do you mean by that?”

Slowly, the younger man slid closer. “I’m just saying...I know you probably don’t want to think about this right now, but...well, I feel like I’m not a bad option at all. I would never ignore you like Victor has done, especially if I had an adorable husband and daughter like you two. I just think...you should find someone who can appreciate everything you have to offer.” His eyes glazed over, and he reached out to grasp Yuuri’s hand, catching it up tenderly between them.

An unpleasant shudder ran up Yuuri’s spine as the younger man leaned in closer, clearly intending to kiss him.

A cold, authoritative voice rang across the ice. “Get away from my husband.”

Minami froze, and Yuuri’s head whipped around to see the person he most and least wanted to see in the world, and his name fell from Yuuri’s lips in a fervent whisper.

“Vitya.”


	12. Chapter 12

Victor had somehow managed to secure a private flight to Saga, and they made what the pilot had told him was record time. Still, every hour that they flew grated on him like a thousand knives, and by the time they landed, he was a nervous wreck. He managed to get a taxi to Hasetsu, but by the time he burst through the doors of Yu-Topia, his mother-in-law informed him that Yuuri had left hours ago, accompanied by Minami. He ground his teeth together at this information, but managed to get out of her what their plans had been for the day. He decided that it wasn’t worthwhile trying to find them wandering around town. He knew they were planning to go to the Ice Castle at some point. If they weren’t there now, he would simply wait for them to arrive, and then get Yuuri alone. 

After giving Aki a short snuggle and leaving Makkachin behind at the inn, he hurried to the ice rink, bursting through the doors to the surprise of Yuuko. She told him that Yuuri and Minami had arrived a while ago and were skating. Thanking her, Victor hurried inside the rink, opening the doors just as Minami caught Yuuri’s hand in his. Victor’s blood boiled with rage as the younger man leaned towards a petrified-looking Yuuri, and his mouth opened of its own accord.

“Get away from my husband.”

Yuuri whirled to look at him, and his eyes looked as wide as saucers. Despite the terror in them, Victor couldn’t help but admire how beautiful they were. But he had more pressing things to tend to. He strode over to the rink’s barrier, swinging his legs over with the ease of practice. As he approached the two men on the ice, Minami backed up, dropping Yuuri’s hand.

When he got within a few feet of them, Victor locked his eyes on Minami and growled, “What do you think you were doing?”

“I...I was…”

Yuuri interrupted. “Minami-kun, thank you for what you said. However, I’m afraid I can’t respond to your feelings.” He gave a small bow at the waist and straightened up.

Minami’s eyes filled with tears, and he nodded with a shaky smile. “I see. Thank you for listening to me, Yuuri-kun.” He turned to Victor, and his expression hardened. He skated slowly past the Russian. Victor watched him go, stone-faced, until the door to the rink closed behind him. Then he turned back to Yuuri.

His husband stood on the ice, staring at his feet. Victor’s heart broke at the dejected figure he made, but there was still rage flowing through his veins too. In a dangerously quiet voice he asked, “What was all of that?”

“Vi...well...Minami-kun just happened to be at the inn when I arrived, so we decided to walk around together today, and then came here. I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

Victor clenched his teeth, not missing the fact that his husband had avoided using his name. “You should have been on your guard more. You know that Minami has always liked you. Or maybe that was your intention in spending time with him. You wanted to move on from me as quickly as possible, so you chose someone that you knew would easily accept you.” As the venom spilled from his mouth, Victor was horrified at his own coldness, but he couldn’t stop it. 

Drops of liquid fell from Yuuri’s head to the ice, absorbing softly into the cold surface. “That’s not fair, and you know it. You know why I came here.”

“No, actually, I don’t! You disappeared without a call, without a text, without even a note! I had to call Mari to find where you went! What were you planning to do, just disappear from my life without a word?”

The tears were falling faster now. “You don’t understand. I did this for you.”

The frustration was unbearable. In a strained voice, Victor said, “Yuuri, can you please look at me.”

Slowly, the dark head raised up to meet his eyes with a tearful gaze. Victor felt an ache deep inside of his chest at the expression on his husband’s face. He wanted nothing more than to sweep the other man up in his arms and hold him until the hurt bled out. But, despite his determination to bring Yuuri back home at all costs, he knew that he couldn’t force him. If Yuuri was truly happier without him, then he would do his best to accept that and figure out how to move on. As he stared at those beautiful eyes, his gaze wandered down to the exquisitely quivering lips, and suddenly wondered if he’d ever be allowed to kiss those lips again. The thought was more than he could bear, and he felt like his body was rending apart as tears pricked at his own eyes. They began dripping out as he gritted his teeth and said, “Please explain to me how my family disappearing without a word is good for me.”

“Vi...Victor, I...I just feel like lately, you’ve been getting more and more involved with work, and so I started thinking about what you’re doing with me...Victor, you’re an Olympic gold medalist, and maybe you’re not skating anymore, but you still have a lot of potential left in you. You’re beautiful and talented and still young enough that if you weren’t chained down by a family, you could...could start again…” His hands moved up to clench in his hair, but despite the despair painting itself clearly across his face, he kept talking. “And then Oleg came, and he said the same things...said that I wasn’t any good for you...and I thought, if other people can see it too, then it must be true, and I’ve just been selfishly weighing you down all this time without stopping to think about what’s best for you…” His voice finally gave way to a sob.

Victor felt like his chest was full of lead. He couldn’t stand the sight of his heart standing there, sobbing, hurting because of him. He slid closer and said in the gentlest voice he could summon, “Yuuri, please tell me one thing. Do you still love me?”

“V-Victor, that isn’t fair—”

“I don’t care about what’s fair. Just answer the question.” His voice came out more harshly than he had intended, but it seemed to do the trick.

Yuuri stammered, “I...I do love you…”

Unable to hold back anymore, Victor took the last step forward to close the distance between them, sweeping Yuuri firmly into his arms. The other man struggled, but Victor just tightened his hold, burying his head in Yuuri’s shoulder and whispering fiercely, “Don’t pull away from me. I can’t take it.”

After a second, he felt Yuuri’s body relax into him, then after another second his arms went around Victor’s body, clinging tightly onto him as his hands fisted into Victor’s shirt. His body began to heave violently, and hiccupping cries rose from Victor’s shoulder as Yuuri poured his emotions out onto his husband.

Stroking the back of Yuuri’s head gently with one hand, Victor breathed quietly into his ear, “Zhizn moya, please listen to me. I love you. I love you so, so much. I am so sorry that I made you feel inadequate. I should never have allowed work to get so out of control to the point that you felt like I didn’t need you anymore, and I should have noticed how you were feeling before it became a problem. I will always need you, no matter how old we get, or how many children we have, or where I work. You are the one thing in my life that I have always needed, and now that includes Aki, too. Please, please don’t take that away from me. Please don’t leave me for someone else. I promise I can do better, if you just stand by me.” He stopped, as he felt his own tears start to flow again, and clutched his husband to him even tighter.

Yuuri hiccuped loudly, and said in a quavering voice, “Vitya, I love you too. I love you, so much. Aishiteru. Vitya, I don’t want to leave. I want to be with you. I just wanted to do what was best for you, and to see you happy.”

“You and Aki make me happy. Only you.”

Another sob sounded next to Victor’s ear. “I’m so sorry I didn’t talk to you about this. I was just certain that it was what was best for you, and that Oleg...well, that he would be a better fit for you.”

At the name, Victor’s lip curled up inadvertently. “That slimy bastard really got into your head, didn’t he? He even had the audacity to say to my face that you weren’t good enough. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure neither of us ever see him again. I’ll either destroy his career at the federation or move to a different department. And I’ll make sure that they drop my hours and let me work from home more, too. This can’t keep going on like this. You’re the most important thing, and you need me around.”

“Can you really do that, Vitya?”

Victor smiled unpleasantly, and was glad that his husband couldn’t see. “Yes, of course. I’m Victor Katsuki-Nikiforov.” With a herculean effort, he pried his husband off his shoulder so they could look at each other, cupping Yuuri’s face in his hands. “So please, lyubov moya, please come home to me.”

Yuuri looked back at him for one breathless moment and nodded, his face crumpling once more into tears, but this time tinged with a smile. “Yes, Vitya. If that’s what you really want, of course.”

Fiercely, Victor pulled his face forward and gave him a harsh kiss. Breaking it off just as suddenly, he withdrew only far enough to look into his husband’s eyes and growl, “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Of course it’s what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted, and that will never change, no matter what anyone says.” Bringing his mouth back to Yuuri’s, he reveled in the feeling of being able to kiss those beautiful lips again, but also felt the overwhelming need to express his love. He settled on alternately pressing hard kisses to his husband and breaking off to pepper in one word at a time, forming a broken “I...love...you…so…” At that point he gave up and lost himself to Yuuri’s lips, driving his tongue deep inside his husband’s mouth. He felt Yuuri melt into his arms, a low groan coming from the back of his throat as Victor probed his mouth.

All the pent-up feelings became too much, and he was filled with an overwhelming need to take Yuuri immediately. Despite the muddle that his brain had become, he recognized that the middle of an ice rink was probably not the best place for that. Forcing himself away from his husband, he panted, “Let’s get off the ice.”

Yuuri looked at him with glazed eyes that should probably be illegal, and nodded hazily. Obediently, he skated to the edge of the arena and exited through one of the small doors. Victor followed behind him more slowly due to his lack of skates, but he still made it off of the ice quickly. Now that some of his fear was past, he was starting to feel his anger more keenly. Anger at Oleg for butting in where he didn’t belong, and daring to say such things to his beloved. Anger at Minami, for trying to take advantage of the situation. Anger at Yuuri for not talking to him. And, most of all, anger at himself, for creating this problem in the first place.

He placed his hands on Yuuri’s shoulders and pushed him down onto his knees. Yuuri looked up at him hazily, and Victor undid his pants, pulling his dick out. His eyes hardened as he looked down at his husband and brought the tip to Yuuri’s lips. “Lick it,” he said in a harsh voice.

Without breaking eye contact, Yuuri nodded, and opened his mouth obediently. His tongue snaked out, and the warmth of his saliva against the cold of the arena made Victor shiver. Yuuri quickly took him fully into his mouth, and it didn’t take long for Victor to respond to his husband’s ministrations. As he grew fully erect, Yuuri made a small, rather pathetic noise in the back of his throat and wrapped his arms around Victor’s legs, placing his hands firmly on Victor’s ass. And then, to Victor’s horror, he saw tears trickling out of those beautiful eyes.

All of the anger drained out of him in an instant, leaving him only with remorse. “Lyubimiy, muzh moy, please, you don’t have to. I didn’t mean to make you upset, I’m sorry.” He put his hands on Yuuri’s head, trying to pry him off gently. But Yuuri shook his hands off vehemently and kept sucking, harder and faster now, trying his best to take in the entire length at each stroke.

Victor tried again, this time rather halfheartedly, to push Yuuri off. “Solnyshko, please, you can stop. I don’t want to make you sad.”

Yuuri withdrew his mouth with a loud squelching noise, and looked up at his husband. The tears continued to fall as he said, “Vitya, I’m not sad. I’m just so relieved that you still want me. Please, let me have you.”

He stared down at this gorgeous man, searching for the truth of those words in his face. Finding what he was looking for, he nodded, satisfied. “Then I’ll give you all of me. Open up, lyubov moya.” Guiding himself back to Yuuri’s mouth, he held that stunning face carefully with both hands as he thrust himself inside. 

This time Victor took the lead, holding his husband’s head in place as he moved his hips. The enticing sight of Yuuri looking up at him adorably as he fucked his mouth soon brought his release. He managed to grunt, “I’m coming,” before he was emptying himself between those exquisite lips. When he had finished, he withdrew gently, enjoying the little gasp Yuuri gave as he was released. He quickly zipped his pants up again and leaned down, pulling his husband upright gently. Once they were on the same level again, he tipped his head forward so that their foreheads were touching and whispered, “Please just talk to me the next time I’m fucking something up that badly, ok? I never want to ignore you or make you feel inadequate again. Because you and Aki are everything for me.”

Yuuri nodded. “I’m sorry, Vitya. I promise I’ll do better at telling you how I feel.”

“I’m sorry, too.” Victor drew back far enough to give his husband a quick kiss, then wrapped one arm around his shoulders. “Now come on, let’s go back to the inn. I barely got to see Aki. And besides,” he leaned in towards Yuuri’s ear to whisper, “We have to take care of you too.” He got maybe a little too much enjoyment out of the way Yuuri shuddered at his words.


	13. Chapter 13

They walked back to Yu-Topia together, Victor refusing to remove his arm from its hold on Yuuri’s shoulders, even when his husband protested that he was having a hard time walking. Makkachin ruined this, however, by pouncing on both of his masters the second they walked into the inn. He greeted Victor quickly and then focused on Yuuri, seeming anxious at having been left behind. Yuuri’s delighted laughter soon turned to tears as he knelt down and embraced the poodle around the neck, trying his best not to cry in front of the few customers that were around.

Victor spent a moment smiling at this scene before wandering inside to find his mother-in-law. He located her fairly quickly, attending to early diners with Aki strapped to her back. As soon as she saw her papa, the baby started cooing as loudly as she could, reaching her arms towards him. He was sure he was grinning like an idiot as he made his way over to her and gave her a kiss on top of her head, cradling it gently for a long moment before drawing away. 

Hiroko looked around conspiratorially and leaned in to whisper, “Did everything turn out all right with Yuuri, then?”

He smiled even wider, if that was possible. “Yes, we managed to work things out.” His face sobered as he added, “This was mostly my fault, I’m afraid. I’m sorry that I haven’t been a good husband to your son.” He stepped back to bow deeply to her.

“Vicchan, that’s enough of that! Yuuri’s otousan and I both know that you have been an excellent spouse. More than anything, thank you for putting up with our son for so long.” She returned his bow.

He smiled wryly as they both straightened up. “I’m afraid I haven’t been as good as I could be, but I will do better.” 

“I understand. Would you like to take Aki-chan back?”

“Not right now. If you don’t mind holding her for a little longer, that is.”

Hiroko’s eyes sparkled knowingly. “Ah, of course, that’s fine. You take all the time you want, she’s no trouble at all. She behaves quite well for her obaachan.” 

Victor smiled. “Well, I suppose she has to behave for someone. Thank you.” He turned around and went to locate his husband.

He found him in the foyer, still petting Makkachin. He looked up when Victor entered, and said with a sheepish smile, “I know it’s silly, but I had thought that I might never see him again.”

The comment struck at Victor’s heart, and he asked, “Yuuri, why didn’t you bring him with you then?”

He blinked. “Well, Vitya, he’s your dog. It didn’t seem right to take him away from you.”

“He’s your dog just as much as he is mine. And if you know it’s not right to deprive him of his master, then don’t leave again.”

Yuuri stood up and wrapped his arms around his husband’s waist. “I promise I won’t,” he whispered, laying his head on Victor’s shoulder.

An electric shot went through Victor’s body, and he murmured into the silky black hair, “Let’s go to the private onsen, lapochka.”

Yuuri shivered and nodded, and allowed himself to be led by the hand to the inn’s only private onsen. He checked to make sure that there was nobody in the adjoining room, then locked the door and made his way to the shower area. Victor was already standing there, naked, dumping water over his head. Yuuri watched in fascination as the water cascaded down the planes of his body, and was disappointed with how quickly it ended. Victor opened his eyes and saw his husband. He smiled and said, “Take your clothes off and come join me, zvezda moya.”

Yuuri gulped, hoping that the sound wasn’t too loud. He removed his clothes and left them folded neatly next to Victor’s own haphazard pile. He couldn’t help a wry smile. It was just like at home. The thought caused a sudden sob to catch in his chest, and he crouched down with his head on his knees, trying desperately to regain control of his emotions.

The wet sound of footsteps hurried towards him and a hand was placed on his back. “Yuuri, are you all right?” Victor’s worried voice sounded in his ear, and he looked up to see those stunning ice-blue eyes peering into his.

He tried to laugh off the situation, sniffling heavily. “No, it’s nothing, Vitya. I’m fine.”

“Stop trying to hide things from me,” Victor growled. “Didn’t we just decide to stop doing that? I want to know what you’re feeling, because obviously it upset you.”

“Well, it’s kind of silly...I was just thinking that I’m glad to see your clothes thrown into a pile like normal.”

Victor’s worried expression cracked into a grin. “Wow, that’s the first time you’ve ever said that! I’ll have to remember that for when we get back home and you get upset about my laundry piles.”

Laughing, Yuuri scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Vitya. This is the only time I’m going to let it pass. You have to behave from now on.”

“I hope you don’t expect me to behave too much,” Victor murmured, leaning in to nip his husband’s ear lobe.

Yuuri yelped, and immediately covered his mouth with one hand. Victor parted his lips to suck in more of Yuuri’s ear lobe, simultaneously tracing his hand down the curve of Yuuri’s spine. His other hand came to rest lightly on top of Yuuri’s thigh, where the fingers began to trace a tantalizing dance. He felt overwhelmed with sensations in so many places, and his voice broke through the barrier of his hand, emitting a low whine.

“That’s it, krasavets, let it out for me.” Victor’s hand traced down lower along the curve of Yuuri’s ass, coming to rest at his entrance.

“Vi-Vitya, I haven’t washed myself yet,” he managed to gasp, dropping his hand entirely.

“That’s all right, lapochka. I won’t put in more than a finger, and I’m still wet from washing off.” His finger traced languid circles as he spoke, and then slowly pushed against the puckering edge until it was sucked inside.

Yuuri gasped and fell forward onto his hands and knees. Victor’s finger pressed further inside of him, working slowly back and forth as his other hand slid up to cup Yuuri’s balls. His back arched, and he let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a moan. “Ahh, Vitya, it feels good having you in me.”

“It doesn’t hurt?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No, I like it a little dry sometimes.”

The motions stopped, and Victor swore under his breath. Suddenly his touch left Yuuri. Feeling empty, he turned his head to see the reason. His husband was walking over to the row of bottles near the faucet, pawing through them one by one as he muttered to himself.

“Vitya, what are you doing?”

Selecting a bottle, Victor carried it back over to where his lover was kneeling on the floor. As he sat back down he replied, “I can’t handle you being so sexy like that. I need to take you before we get in the onsen.” He pumped out some liquid onto his hand, spreading it on his fingers. Yuuri felt the pads of two digits touching his hole, and his body twitched. The tips of the fingers entered, then spread him apart. He shuddered, and Victor pressed inside fully as he shifted his body so he was kneeling behind his husband. His motions grew faster and harder, until Yuuri gasped out, “You can come inside me now, anata.”

The fingers pulsed inside him for another few beats before being slowly withdrawn. A few seconds later, he felt the press of Victor’s head against him, a little hesitantly. Impatiently, Yuuri thrust his hips backwards, impaling himself on his husband’s length. 

They both moaned as Victor’s cock slid fully inside. He laughed breathlessly. “A little eager, were you, lyubov moya?”

“Yes, Vitya. Please fuck me.” Yuuri turned his head around to look at the Russian man with heavy eyes.

He stared at Yuuri for a moment before growling, “Der’mo,” and pulling himself out, shoving back inside savagely.

Yuuri’s head fell back forward, flopping limply between his arms as he gave himself over to the sensations from his husband’s cock. As he began thrusting, Victor grabbed him firmly by the hips, and ground out, “I love you.”

Loosely, Yuuri nodded his head. Victor grabbed him tighter, leaning over a little as he said again, “I love you.”

This didn’t seem to be enough for him, though. His hands quested up and down Yuuri’s back, resting on his shoulders and grasping them to hold him in place while he thrusted. “I love you,” Victor said again.

Yuuri nodded again, but he was having a harder time focusing on his husband’s words as Victor ran his hands back down Yuuri’s sides. One hand went under his leg, lifting it up as Victor continued pushing into him. “I love you.”

Although this position allowed Victor to thrust inside of him more deeply, it was tiring for Yuuri to kneel like this. After a little while, he dropped down onto his forearms, and then after a few more seconds, he lowered his body down to the ground as well.

Victor, however, kept his hold on Yuuri’s leg so that he ended up on his side with his leg being held straight up against his husband’s body. Victor gave a wolfish grin and started to push harshly inside of Yuuri, once again grunting, “I love you. I love you, Yuuri.”

Now able to see his husband, Yuuri panted as he stared at the curtain of swaying silver hair and the focused face beneath it, simply enjoying looking at him. Victor looked up, and his startlingly blue eyes met Yuuri’s gaze. He gave a lopsided smile and said again, “I love you.”

Yuuri nodded. “I know, Vitya.”

The smile disappeared, and Victor dropped Yuuri’s leg, pitching forward onto his hands. “No. No, you don’t know, Yuuri. That’s why we’re in this situation, because I didn’t do a good enough job of letting you know that I love you. So I’m going to make sure that you know. I’ll fill you up with my cock and my seed and my words until all of my love is leaking out of you, and you won’t ever be able to forget how much I love you.” He leaned down and sealed his mouth over Yuuri’s, demanding entrance for his tongue. Willingly, Yuuri parted his lips, and as he did so his husband began thrusting again, this time with slower, languid strokes, so that Yuuri was forced to feel his full length with every motion. 

He allowed himself to get lost in the feeling of being fucked slowly and lovingly, until Victor broke away from his mouth and whispered once again, “I love you.”

He smiled up at him hazily and said, “I love you too, Vitya.” As he moved he realized his back was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, so he pushed on Victor’s chest a little, gaining some space so he could shift and rearrange his legs until they were clasped around his husband’s waist. Once he was settled, he wrapped his arms around Victor’s neck and looked up at him with a smile. “I love you,” he whispered, wiggling his hips a little so that his lover would know he was ready to be penetrated again.

Victor took the hint, pushing his length back inside. He began to thrust wildly, and Yuuri recognized that he was nearing his climax. “Touch me too,” he gasped, not willing to relinquish his hold on his husband’s body.

The silver head nodded, and Victor leaned down to support his weight on one forearm, reaching the other hand between them to work its way up and down Yuuri’s cock.

He didn’t need much stimulation to come, and within a few pumps he was shuddering in release, all of his muscles clenching down as his cum streamed out. Victor’s strokes grew slower, and with one last push, Yuuri felt himself being filled up. 

Victor’s body relaxed onto his own, and they both laid on the ground, panting for several seconds. Then Victor’s voice sounded by his ear, “I love you, lapochka.”

Turning his head in an attempt to look at his husband, Yuuri replied, “Aishiteru.” 

Victor levered himself up, giving Yuuri a lingering kiss before removing his body. He reached down and picked the other man up off the floor, setting him gently on a stool. “You just sit there, lyubimiy. I’ll wash you off.”

“Vitya, I can do it myself.”

“But I made a mess out of you. Besides, I want to make a mess out of you again, so this seems fair.” Victor winked at him, and Yuuri’s body shivered. 

He felt a trickle of cum draining out of his ass, and frowned. “Wait a second, you can’t do that in the onsen! You’ll make a mess, and I’ll be the one stuck cleaning it up later!”

Victor came over to him, holding the basin of water. “It’s fine, when I’m ready to come we can just get out of the water. And besides, I want you to come in me too, so won’t we both be making a mess?” He gave a smile that Yuuri felt was really unfair. “Now close your eyes, dorogoi.” Yuuri barely had time to obey before the water was crashing down over his head. As he spluttered under the cascade, a kiss was planted on the back of his bowed head, and Victor’s voice murmured, “I love you so much.”

Yuuri wiped his eyes and looked up at him “I do know, Vitya. And I love you, too.”

His husband’s eyes were filled with heat as he replied, “Well, we have all night to make sure you remember that.”


	14. Epilogue

They stayed at Hasetsu for the rest of the week, enjoying the onsen and Yuuri’s family and spending the nights staying up late together, whispering affirmations to each other. By the time they returned to St. Petersburg that weekend, Yuuri was indeed feeling like he was going to overflow with the force of Victor’s love, both physical and emotional. 

There had been several times throughout the week, though, when Yuuri had seen Victor going off by himself, holding his phone to his ear more often than not. Although he didn’t have any more fears about a potential affair, he still couldn’t help but wonder what his husband was doing. But the trip back with an excitable poodle and fussy baby prevented him from asking about it, and by the time they finally stumbled into their apartment late at night, Yuuri was simply too exhausted to think about anything other than putting everyone to bed for the night. 

He awoke the next morning, certain that he would be alone since it was a work day. To his surprise, Victor was sitting next to him in bed with a mug held in one hand, scrolling through his phone.

With a sleepy voice, he asked, “Vitya? Don’t you have to go to work today?”

Victor turned to him with a radiant smile. “Solnyshko! Ohayou! No, I don’t. Remember what I told you? I negotiated less hours. They told me that since I’m doing the job fine now, I can mostly work from home, and we’re cutting down the time I’m putting in as well.”

Blinking, Yuuri scooted himself upward so his back was propped against his pillows. “Are you sure that’s ok?”

His husband snorted. “I don’t really care if they think it’s ok or not. It’s happening. Or else this isn’t the job for me.” He leaned over and kissed Yuuri’s head. “My main job is taking care of you and Aki.” 

Yuuri regarded him carefully, an unspoken question that he was too scared to ask on his tongue.

Victor nodded. “Oh, yes, and Oleg is gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“I mean he no longer works at the federation.”

A slow suspicion crept over Yuuri. “Vitya, what did you do?”

Taking a sip from his mug, Victor looked at him with an innocent face that didn’t fool Yuuri for a second. “I simply called HR and reported the inappropriate advances that he’d made on an employee, and one with considerable clout with the press, at that.” He smiled unpleasantly, then his face changed and he hurriedly said, “Don’t worry, muzh moy, he didn’t make any physical contact with me. I made sure of that.”

Yuuri had, indeed, been worrying about that very thing. He smiled with relief, but then his eyebrows furrowed. “Are you certain it was necessary to get him fired?”

A dark shadow passed over Victor’s face, and his eyes turned the blue of an ice storm. “Yes, I thought so too. It wasn’t enough to just get him fired. I made sure that he’ll regret what he did for a long time.” He gave his husband a wide smile, but Yuuri simply regarded him suspiciously. It occurred to him that maybe he should feel a little sorry for Oleg, but then his husband brushed a kiss over his lips.

As he withdrew, he bored his gaze deep into Yuuri’s and said, “I love you.”

Yuuri smiled. “I love you too, Vitya.” He leaned in to return the kiss, but just then Aki’s stuttering cry came over the baby monitor. He sighed and started to get out of bed, but Victor pushed him back down.

“No, this is why I adjusted my hours. I’ll get her. You stay here and rest.” Setting his mug down on his nightstand, he got up and walked to the door, blowing a kiss as he left the room.

Yuuri relaxed back into the bed, and as he listened to the sounds of his husband and daughter over the monitor, his heart felt lighter than it had in several weeks. As Makkachin pushed the door open and bounded up onto the bed to snuggle with him, he smiled and thought about how grateful he was to be home, back to his life with his loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you stuck this out to the end, thank you so much! I got the idea for this because I wanted to show some depth to Victor and Yuuri's relationship. No matter how perfect you are for each other, problems will happen, and how you handle them shows the strength of your relationship. The stress of a baby adds a lot to a marriage/relationship too, between adjusting to a different schedule, not sleeping, and feeling like you're out of touch with your own body. I wanted to put some of that in the story and explore how this couple would navigate that. Hopefully everyone thinks that Victor and Yuuri came out of this stronger, and with a pattern of better communication and a stronger marriage set for them. 
> 
> I also tried to work a lot of issues with anxiety into this story, but it's a complex disorder that plays out differently for everyone. I hope that this fic helped people understand a little what a person's brain tells them when they deal with anxiety. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you again for reading this all the way through! See you in my next Victuuri fic!


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